A Systematic Analysis of Tinman Function Reveals Eya and JAK-STAT Signaling as Essential Regulators of Muscle Development

Ya Hsin Liu, Janus S. Jakobsen, Guillaume Valentin, Ioannis Amarantos, Darren T. Gilmour, Eileen E.M. Furlong

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

72 Citations (Scopus)

Abstract

Nk-2 proteins are essential developmental regulators from flies to humans. In Drosophila, the family member tinman is the major regulator of cell fate within the dorsal mesoderm, including heart, visceral, and dorsal somatic muscle. To decipher Tinman's direct regulatory role, we performed a time course of ChIP-on-chip experiments, revealing a more prominent role in somatic muscle specification than previously anticipated. Through the combination of transgenic enhancer-reporter assays, colocalization studies, and phenotypic analyses, we uncovered two additional factors within this myogenic network: by activating eyes absent, Tinman's regulatory network extends beyond developmental stages and tissues where it is expressed; by regulating stat92E expression, Tinman modulates the transcriptional readout of JAK/STAT signaling. We show that this pathway is essential for somatic muscle development in Drosophila and for myotome morphogenesis in zebrafish. Taken together, these data uncover a conserved requirement for JAK/STAT signaling and an important component of the transcriptional network driving myogenesis.

Original languageEnglish
Pages (from-to)280-291
Number of pages12
JournalDevelopmental Cell
Volume16
Issue number2
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - 2009 Feb 17

All Science Journal Classification (ASJC) codes

  • Molecular Biology
  • General Biochemistry,Genetics and Molecular Biology
  • Developmental Biology
  • Cell Biology

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