Signal Transduction Pathway for Anterior-Posterior Development in Drosophila

InDrosophila, the establishment of embryonic polarity along the anterior-posterior axis of the egg is determined by the activity of maternal gene products that accumulate during oogenesis. Amongst these are the Bicoid, the Nanos, and the terminal class gene products, some of which are oncoproteins involved in signal transduction for the formation of terminal structures in the embryo. Several signal transduction pathways have been described inDrosophila, and this review explores the potential of oncogene studies using one of those pathways — the terminal class signal transduction pathway — to better understand the cellular mechanisms of proto-oncogenes that mediate cellular responses in vertebrates including humans.