JCB logo
  Home | Help | Feedback | Subscriptions | Archive | Search | Table of Contents
Published online
doi:10.1083/jcb.200806186
The Journal of Cell Biology, Vol. 182, No. 2, 221-223
The Rockefeller University Press, 0021-9525 $30.00
© Helenius et al.
This Article
Right arrow Full Text
Right arrow Full Text (PDF, 610K)
Right arrow PPT slides of all figures
Right arrow Alert me when this article is cited
Services
Right arrow Email this article
Right arrow Similar articles in this journal
Right arrow Similar articles in PubMed
Right arrow Alert me to new content in the JCB
Right arrow Download to citation manager
Citing Articles
Right arrow Citing Articles via CrossRef
Right arrow Citing Articles via Google Scholar
Google Scholar
Right arrow Articles by Helenius, I. T.
Right arrow Articles by Beitel, G. J.
Right arrow Search for Related Content
PubMed
Right arrow PubMed Citation
Right arrow Articles by Helenius, I. T.
Right arrow Articles by Beitel, G. J.
Right arrowPubmed/NCBI databases
*Substance via MeSH
Related Collections
Right arrowRelated Articles
Social Bookmarking
Add to CiteULike   Add to Complore   Add to Connotea   Add to Del.icio.us   Add to Digg   Add to Facebook   Add to Reddit   Add to Technorati   Add to Twitter  
What's this?

Comment

The first "Slit" is the deepest: the secret to a hollow heart



Iiro Taneli Helenius and Greg J. Beitel

Department of Biochemistry, Molecular Biology, and Cell Biology, Northwestern University, Evanston, IL 60208

Correspondence to Greg J. Beitel: beitel{at}northwestern.edu

Tubular organs are essential for life, but lumen formation in nonepithelial tissues such as the vascular system or heart is poorly understood. Two studies in this issue (Medioni, C., M. Astier, M. Zmojdzian, K. Jagla, and M. Sémériva. 2008. J. Cell Biol. 182:249–261; Santiago-Martínez, E., N.H. Soplop, R. Patel, and S.G. Kramer. 2008. J. Cell Biol. 182:241–248) reveal unexpected roles for the Slit–Robo signaling system during Drosophila melanogaster heart morphogenesis. In cardioblasts, Slit and Robo modulate the cell shape changes and domains of E-cadherin–based adhesion that drive lumen formation. Furthermore, in contrast to the well-known paracrine role of Slit and Robo in guiding cell migrations, here Slit and Robo may act by autocrine signaling. In addition, the two groups demonstrate that heart lumen formation is even more distinct from typical epithelial tubulogenesis mechanisms because the heart lumen is bounded by membrane surfaces that have basal rather than apical attributes. As the D. melanogaster cardioblasts are thought to have significant evolutionary similarity to vertebrate endothelial and cardiac lineages, these findings are likely to provide insights into mechanisms of vertebrate heart and vascular morphogenesis.

© 2008 Helenius and Beitel This article is distributed under the terms of an Attribution–Noncommercial–Share Alike–No Mirror Sites license for the first six months after the publication date (see http://www.jcb.org/misc/terms.shtml). After six months it is available under a Creative Commons License (Attribution–Noncommercial–Share Alike 3.0 Unported license, as described at http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/3.0/).


Add to CiteULike CiteULike   Add to Complore Complore   Add to Connotea Connotea   Add to Del.icio.us Del.icio.us   Add to Digg Digg   Add to Facebook Facebook   Add to Reddit Reddit   Add to Technorati Technorati   Add to Twitter Twitter    What's this?

Related Articles

Genetic control of cell morphogenesis during Drosophila melanogaster cardiac tube formation
Caroline Medioni, Martine Astier, Monika Zmojdzian, Krzysztof Jagla, and Michel Sémériva
J. Cell Biol. 2008 182: 249-261. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]

Repulsion by Slit and Roundabout prevents Shotgun/E-cadherin–mediated cell adhesion during Drosophila heart tube lumen formation
Edgardo Santiago-Martínez, Nadine H. Soplop, Rajesh Patel, and Sunita G. Kramer
J. Cell Biol. 2008 182: 241-248. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]





  Home | Help | Feedback | Subscriptions | Archive | Search | Table of Contents