Muscle-derived Myoglianin regulates < i > Drosophila < /i > imaginal disc growth

Organ growth and size are finely tuned by intrinsic and extrinsic signaling molecules. InDrosophila, the BMP family member Dpp is produced in a limited set of imaginal disc cells and functions as a classic morphogen to regulate pattern and growth by diffusing throughout imaginal discs. However, the role of TGF β/Activin-like ligands in disc growth control remains ill-defined. Here we demonstrate that Myoglianin (Myo), an Activin family member, and a close homolog of mammalian Myostatin (Mstn), is a muscle-derived extrinsic factor that uses canonical dSmad2 mediated signaling to regulate wing size. We pro pose that Myo is a myokine that helps mediate an allometric relationship between muscles and their associated appendages.
Source: eLife - Category: Biomedical Science Tags: Developmental Biology Source Type: research