Planar cell polarity (PCP) describes the polarization of cell structures and behaviors within the plane of a tissue. PCP is essential for the generation of tissue architecture during embryogenesis and for postnatal growth and tissue repair, yet how it is oriented to coordinate cell polarity remains poorly understood [1]. In Drosophila, PCP is mediated via the Frizzled-Flamingo (Fz-PCP) and Dach...

In Drosophila, two closely related serpentine receptors, Frizzled (Fz) and D-Frizzled2 (Fz2) are able to act as receptors for the secreted Wnt peptide, Wingless (Wg). In addition to transducing the Wg signal, Fz (but not Fz2) is able to transduce a second, unidentified signal that mediates planar polarity. Much attention has been focused on the structure of the N-termini of the Fz-class recepto...

Candida albicans frequently cause oropharyngeal candidiasis in immunocompromised patients. As some of these isolates show resistance against azoles, the clinician is wary of initiating therapy with fluconazole (FZ) until a final susceptibility report is generated. We aimed to evaluate the efficacy of rapid flow cytometry (FCM) and disc diffusion (DD) methods in comparison to reference microdilu...

Planar cell polarity (PCP) in the Drosophila eye is established by the distinct fate specifications of photoreceptors R3 and R4, and is regulated by the Frizzled (Fz)/PCP signaling pathway. Before the PCP proteins become asymmetrically localized to opposite poles of the cell in response to Fz/PCP signaling, they are uniformly apically colocalized. Little is known about how the apical localizati...

22 Studies on neural decision making mostly investigated fast corrective adjustments of arm 23 movements. However, fast leg movement corrections deserve attention as well, since they are often 24 required to avoid falling after balance perturbations. The present study aimed at elucidating the 25 mechanisms behind fast corrections of tripping responses by analyzing the concomitant leg muscle 26 ...

Most mutant alleles in the Fz-PCP pathway genes were discovered in classic Drosophila screens looking for recessive loss-of-function (LOF) mutations. Nonetheless, although Fz-PCP signaling is sensitive to increased doses of PCP gene products, not many screens have been performed in the wing under genetically engineered Fz overexpression conditions, mostly because the Fz phenotypes were strong a...

The Drosophila misshapen (msn) gene is a member of the STE20 kinase family. We show that msn acts in the Frizzled (Fz) mediated epithelial planar polarity (EPP) signaling pathway in eyes and wings. Both msn loss- and gain-of-function result in defective ommatidial polarity and wing hair formation. Genetic and biochemical analyses indicate that msn acts downstream of fz and dishevelled (dsh) in ...

Cellular morphogenesis, including polarized outgrowth, promotes tissue shape and function. Polarized vesicle trafficking has emerged as a fundamental mechanism by which protein and membrane can be targeted to discrete subcellular domains to promote localized protrusions. Frizzled (Fz)/planar cell polarity (PCP) signaling orchestrates cytoskeletal polarization and drives morphogenetic changes in...

We have examined the respective contribution of Heparan Sulfate Proteoglycans (HSPGs) and Frizzled (Fz) proteins in the establishment of the Wingless (Wg) morphogen gradient. From the analysis of mutant clones of sulfateless/N-deacetylase-sulphotransferase in the wing imaginal disc, we find that lack of Heparan Sulfate (HS) causes a dramatic reduction of both extracellular and intracellular Wg ...

The ommatidia of the Drosophila eye initiate development by stepwise recruitment of photoreceptors into symmetric ommatidial clusters. As they mature, the clusters become asymmetric, adopting opposite chirality on either side of the dorsoventral midline and rotating exactly 90 degrees (Figures 1A and 1B, ). The choice of chirality is governed by higher activity of the frizzled (fz) gene in one ...