Slik as a novel Rho GTPase effector in tissue dynamics and growth

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Local communication between cells plays an important role in controlling the normal growth of tissues in embryos. Using the fruit fly as a genetic model organism, we have been studying the role that a protein called Slik plays in such local control of growth. Interestingly, when the levels of Slik in one group of cells in the developing wing of a fly are increased, it stimulates neighbouring cells to divide. We are trying to determine how this works. With a collaborator, we have identified a protein belonging to a class of proteins called GTPases, often implicated in organizing cell structure through a “cytoskeleton” of protein filaments, that binds to Slik in cells. What effect this protein, called Rho1, has on Slik function in growing tissues and vice versa is not known. We propose to use a series of biochemical tests in cells and genetic tests in flies to uncover the importance of the binding of these two proteins, and to use a powerful new technique for identifying interacting proteins in cells to find other proteins that bind Slik and may be important for its function. Because humans also have Slik and Rho1-like proteins, our work in flies will provide important insights into one of the mechanisms controlling tissue growth in us.