Analysis of cell-cell communication involved in the control of proliferation in fruit fly Drosophila melanogaster wing imaginal discs

Abstract

Apico-basal polarity (ABP) establishment and its maintenance is important for epithelial morphogenesis and epithelium function. Well-established model for studying epithelial morphogenesisis a wing primordium – wing imaginal disc of fruit fly Drosophila melanogaster, which composed with polarized epithelial cells. Epithelial architecture of polarized imaginal disc cells is regulated by Par, Crumbs and Scribble complexes. This thesis is focused on the Scribble. Although the function of the tumour suppressor Scribble has been well studied in various scientific works, it is still unknown how scribble mutant cells in the wing disc communicate with wild-type cells before neoplasia formation? What determines whether a cell becomes neoplastic or not? Main aim of thesis is to elucidate how the clone size of scribble mutant cells impacts neoplasia formation. As a result, when conventional RNAi clone analysis has been carried out, small scribble RNAi clones are largely eliminated, suggesting that a small number of scribble mutant cells are not sufficiently competent for neoplasia formation, but larger scribble mutant cell populations become competent for overproliferation, ultimately leading to neoplasia formation. Taken together, these findings suggest that achieving a critical amount of mutant cells appears to be critical for the development of neoplastic competence. Further understanding these mechanisms will shed light on epithelial tissue dynamics and have broader implications for cancer research.