Macrophage-mediated corpse engulfment is required for normal Drosophila CNS morphogenesis
2003
Cell death plays an essential role in development, and the removal of cell
corpses presents an important challenge for the developing organism.
Macrophages are largely responsible for the clearance of cell corpses in
Drosophila melanogaster and mammalian systems. We have examined the
developmental requirement for macrophages in Drosophila and find that
macrophage function is essential for central nervous system (CNS)
morphogenesis. We generate and analyze mutations in the Pvr locus,
which encodes a receptor tyrosine kinase of the PDGF/VEGF family that is
required for hemocyte migration. We find that loss of Pvr function
causes the mispositioning of glia within the CNS and the disruption of the CNS
axon scaffold. We further find that inhibition of hemocyte development or of
Croquemort, a receptor required for macrophage-mediated corpse engulfment,
causes similar CNS defects. These data indicate that macrophage-mediated
clearance of cell corpses is required for proper morphogenesis of the
Drosophila CNS.
Keywords:
- Correction
- Source
- Cite
- Save
- Machine Reading By IdeaReader
56
References
91
Citations
NaN
KQI