Abstract
The Wnt5 signaling pathway plays a fundamental role in establishing proper glomerular organization in drosophila melanogaster. The Wnt5 protein generates a gradient that allows for the precise termination of projection neuron dendrites. The signaling mechanisms that transduce the Wnt5 signal in the dendrites are unknown. There are several families of genes that may act as receptors to the Wnt5 protein including Derailed-2, Frizzled and Ror. In addition, the Src64B kinase has been proposed to act as a downstream signaling protein. The aim of the project is to determine if these candidate molecules function in the Wnt5 signaling pathway using the technique of genetic interactions. By co-expressing wnt5 and the candidate genes the hope is to induce morphological changes in the Drosophila antennal lobes. Phosphatidylinositide 3-kinase (PI3K) also plays a role in neural development and it was also tested. No morphological changes in the antennal lobes were found when the wnt5 gene was co-expressed with the Frizzled and Frizzled-2, suggesting that these genes are not involved in Wnt5 signaling. Over-expression of PI3K and Src64B constitutively active (Src64BCA) genes appeared to be lethal in flies precluding their analyses. Interestingly, a mutant construct, Derailed; Derailed-2, showed strong morphological changes in the antennal lobes suggesting that Derailed-2 may act in Wnt5 signaling. Analysis continues on the Derailed-2 and Ror genes.
