Molecular Genetics of Drosophila MAGUK's

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This project concerns the Drosophila Membrane-Associated Guanylate Kinase homolog (MAGUK) Dlg and its function in controlling cell proliferation in imaginal discs and the larval brain. Assays of binding to peptides in vitro indicate that Dlg binds through its PDZ domains to the C- terminal regions of the Epidermal Growth Factor Receptor (EGFR) and to two regulators of the EGFR pathway, Kek-1 and D-Cbl. Immunoprecipiation and yeast two-hybrid assays will be used to confirm and further characterize these interactions. The hypothesis that Dlg regulates the EGFR pathway by controlling the subcellular localization of these proteins will be tested by investigating the effects of dlg mutations on their localization and on activation of the EGFR pathway in vivo. The prediction that EGFR, Kek-1 and D-Cbl are localized and their activity regulated via their C-terminal regions will be tested by expressing C- terminal truncated versions in vivo, and examining the effect on localization of each protein and on its functions in pathway activation and proliferation control. Two proteins (Lin-7 and Lin-10), identified in Caenorhabditis as controlling EGFR localization, have close homologs in Drosophila and they form a complex with Dlg. Their subcellular localization, interactions with EGFR, and their other binding partners will be investigated, and their functions will be identified by isolation and characterization of loss-of-function mutations. The role of Dlg and its binding partners, as well as some other tumor suppressor genes, in controlling growth of the larval brain will be analyzed. This work will include genetic and molecular studies of a known binding partner (Pins) for the Dlg-SH3 domain which, like Dlg, is required for cell proliferation control in the larval brain. An effort will be mad to develop the use of Fluorescent Resonance Energy Transfer Microscopy to examine dynamics of partner binding in live cells, and mislocalization of binding partners in dlg and other mutants. The work will provide a genetic approach to understanding the functions of Dlg and its mammalian homologs, some of which are strongly implicated in a variety of human cancers.