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Published online 24 July 2000. doi:10.1083/jcb.150.2.391
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© The Rockefeller University Press, 0021-9525/2000//391 $5.00
The Journal of Cell Biology, Volume 150, Number 2, , 2000 391-402

Original Article

Regulated Expression of nullo Is Required for the Formation of Distinct Apical and Basal Adherens Junctions in the Drosophila Blastoderm



Christine Huntera and Eric Wieschausa

a Howard Hughes Medical Institute, Molecular Biology Department, Princeton University, Princeton, New Jersey 08540
Howard Hughes Medical Institute, Molecular Biology Department, Princeton University, Princeton, NJ 08540.(609) 258-1547(609) 258-5401

ewieschaus{at}molbio.princeton.edu

During cellularization, the Drosophila embryo undergoes a large-scale cytokinetic event that packages thousands of syncytial nuclei into individual cells, resulting in the de novo formation of an epithelial monolayer in the cortex of the embryo. The formation of adherens junctions is one of the many aspects of epithelial polarity that is established during cellularization: at the onset of cellularization, the Drosophila β-catenin homologue Armadillo (Arm) accumulates at the leading edge of the cleavage furrow, and later to the apicolateral region where the zonula adherens precursors are formed. In this paper, we show that the basal accumulation of Arm colocalizes with DE-cadherin and D{alpha}-catenin, and corresponds to a region of tight membrane association, which we refer to as the basal junction. Although the two junctions are similar in components and function, they differ in their response to the novel cellularization protein Nullo. Nullo is present in the basal junction and is required for its formation at the onset of cellularization. In contrast, Nullo is degraded before apical junction formation, and prolonged expression of Nullo blocks the apical clustering of junctional components, leading to morphological defects in the developing embryo. These observations reveal differences in the formation of the apical and basal junctions, and offer insight into the role of Nullo in basal junction formation.

Key Words: cell division • cell adhesion • epithelial cells • intercellular junctions • developmental biology

© 2000 The Rockefeller University Press

Abbreviation used in this paper: ZA, zonula adherens.


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