Expression of cell proliferation‐related PCNA and E2F genes in Drosophila gut and inhibitory effect of nitric oxide

To understand the late gut development and differentiation, identification and characterization of target genes of homeotic genes involved in gut development are required. We have previously reported that homeodomain proteins can regulate expression of the cell proliferation‐related genes. We investigated here the expression of the Drosophila proliferating cell nuclear antigen(PCNA) and E2F(dE2F) genes in larval and adult guts using trans‐genic flies bearing lacZ reporter genes. Both PCNA and dE2F genes were expressed strongly in whole regions of the larval and adult guts including the esophagus, proventriculus, midgut and hindgut, showing higher expression in foregut and hindgut imaginal rings of larva. Nitric Oxide(NO) has been known to be involved in cell proliferation and tumor growth and also to have an antiproliferative activity. Therefore, we also investigated effects of NO on the expression of PCNA and dE2F genes in gut through analyses of lacZ reporter expression level in the SNP (NO donor)‐treat...