ISSN:
0730-2312
Keywords:
protein kinase C
;
Drosophila melanogaster
;
embryonic neurons
;
Life and Medical Sciences
;
Cell & Developmental Biology
Source:
Wiley InterScience Backfile Collection 1832-2000
Topics:
Biology
,
Chemistry and Pharmacology
,
Medicine
Notes:
Embryonic neurons were cultured from transgenic Drosophila melanogaster expressing a highly specific pseudosubstrate inhibitor of protein kinase C (PKC). Flies homozygous for this transgene, which is under the control of the yeast UAS promoter, were crossed to flies homozygous for the yeast heat shock inducible transcription factor GAL 4. Following heat shock, the progeny express the pseudosubstrate inhibitor at high levels. This strategy, which has the advantage of avoiding the non-specific effects of drugs, was used to study the role of PKC in process growth of cultured, differentiating neuroblasts. An external gold particle labeling procedure using a cell surface antigen expressed by mature neurons and processes was used to visualize neuronal processes directly in the scanning electron microscope. We observed that cell cultures expressing a low concentration of the pseudosubstrate inhibitor showed a significant decrease in the number of type I and II processes as compared to control cultures, while the proportions of neuroblasts, ganglion mother cells (GMCs), and mature neurons in the clusters were little affected. © 1996 Wiley-Liss, Inc.
Additional Material:
9 Ill.
Type of Medium:
Electronic Resource
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