The roles of Moesin in Drosophila neural development

• Main Authors: Yu Wen Lin, 林育妏
• Other Authors: Seng-Sheen Fan
• Format: Others
• Language: zh-TW
• Published: 2009
• Online Access: http://ndltd.ncl.edu.tw/handle/61094048668880147956

碩士 === 東海大學 === 生命科學系 === 97 === How axon finds its target during developing neuron is a fundamental question in neuroscience. Growth cone, the leading edge of axon, receives both external and internal cues to determine its trajectory by remodeling the filamentous actin network. The reorganization of actin filaments in growth cones is important for neural development. ERM (Ezrin, Radixin, and Moesin) protein family is widely distributed membrane protein which acts as a linkage between membrane proteins and filamentous actin. In mammals, ERMs contribute to growth cone morphology, motility, and neurites formation, suggesting the importance of ERMs in neural development. In this study, we examined the role of Drosophila Moesin, the sole ERMs protein found in Drosophila, in neuronal development. We used immunocytochemistry to determine the subcellular localization of Moesin in developing central nervous system of Drosophila embryo. We found that phosphorylated Moesin was not only expressed in the membrane of neurons but also in the glial cells. To study how Moesin affects neural development, we expressed full-length Moesin, constitutive-active Moesin (T559D), and constitutive-inactive Moesin (T559A) in developing embryos. We then observed whether there were any neural defects in these flies. We found that expression of Moesin T559D through Tubulin-Gal4 gave severe neural phenotypes, suggesting that constitutive active Moesin expression interfered neural development. Based on the morphological study, we suggest that altering Moe phosphorylation may affect neural development. Lots of phosphorylated Moesin may reduce the motility of growth cone which became stabler by link actin filaments and membrane proteins, in this way inhibit the movement of axons. We sugest that Moesin might play an important role in growth cone for axon guidance.