The Drosophila protocadherin Fat (Ft) affects planar cell polarity (PCP) but also inhibits the overgrowth of imaginal discs by activating the Hippo pathway. The intracellular domain (ICD) mediates much of Ft activity, but are its PCP and Hippo pathway activities separable? To answer this question, Hitoshi Matakatsu and Seth Blair have undertaken a detailed structure-function analysis of the Ft ICD (see p. 1498). They identify PCP and Hippo pathway-specific domains in the Ft ICD and, surprisingly, report that these domains do not map to any previously identified protein interaction domains in the Ft ICD, nor, with one exception, to the regions that are highly conserved in mammalian Fat4. They also confirm and extend evidence showing that the extracellular domain of Ft has activities in both the PCP and Hippo pathways that are mediated by the protocadherin Dachsous. Based on their results, the authors conclude that the PCP and Hippo pathway activities of Fat and Dachsous are largely separable.
Chewing the Fat over PCP and growth
Chewing the Fat over PCP and growth. Development 15 April 2012; 139 (8): e801. doi:
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