Knowledge Bank

In Drosophila, a novel target of the Epidermal Growth Factor Receptor (EGFR) signaling pathway, CG4096 was identified using microarray analysis. The gene belongs to the family of ADAMTS (A Disintegrin and Metalloproteinase with Thrombospondin motifs) proteins, which are involved in regulating components of the extracellular matrix (ECM). Tissue culture cells (S2) that stably express Drosophila EGFR under an inducible promoter (S2-DER II) were used to test whether induction can be demonstrated in vitro. Examining expression using Reverse transcription-PCR analysis of S2-DER cells showed that CG4096 was induced, confirming the microarray data. In order to analyze the function of CG4096, a loss of function mutant is being generated by remobilizing a transposable element inserted in the gene. Due to conservation, analyzing the phenotype of a CG4096 Drosophila mutant will likely shed light on the role of ADAMTS genes in vertebrates. This is important because the genes are implicated in multiple disease processes.