Two recent articles published in Development describe the role of the Drosophila Echinoid (Ed) protein in R8 photoreceptor cell development and in Egfr signalling (Rawlins et al., 2003; Spencer and Cagan, 2003). Bai et al. first described Ed as an Ig-domain membrane protein and as an antagonist of Egfr signalling in the developing Drosophila eye (Bai et al.,2001). Both recent publications, which were highlighted in the `In this issue' feature, speculate that Ed might be an L1-type cell adhesion molecule (CAM). Similar to L1-type proteins, Ed is a homophilic CAM(Islam et al., 2003), and both proteins are members of the Ig-domain superfamily. However, Ed is not part of the L1 family and has a different protein domain structure (usually six Ig-and five FNIII-protein domains for L1-type proteins versus seven plus two for Ed). Furthermore, Ed, as well as its Drosophila paralogue Fred(Chandra et al., 2003), has a strikingly different cytoplasmic domain and lacks the landmark ankyrin binding site of L1-type CAMs. The Drosophila genome contains only one L1-type gene, called Neuroglian (Nrg)(Hortsch, 2000). Interestingly,the Nrg protein is a heterophilic ligand of Ed and triggers the Egfr antagonist activity of Ed in a synergistic manner(Islam et al., 2003).
Drosophila Echinoid is an antagonist of Egfr signalling, but is not a member of the L1-type family of cell adhesion molecules
Michael Hortsch; Drosophila Echinoid is an antagonist of Egfr signalling, but is not a member of the L1-type family of cell adhesion molecules. Development 15 November 2003; 130 (22): 5295. doi: https://doi.org/10.1242/dev.00852
Download citation file:
Advertisement
Cited by
About us

Our publisher, The Company of Biologists, turns 100 this year. Read about the history of the Company and find out what Sarah Bray, our Chair of the Board of Directors, has to say.
Biologists @ 100 - join us in Liverpool in March 2025

We are excited to invite you to a unique scientific conference, celebrating the 100-year anniversary of The Company of Biologists, and bringing together our different communities. The conference will incorporate the Spring Meetings of the BSCB and the BSDB, the JEB Symposium Sensory Perception in a Changing World and a DMM programme on antimicrobial resistance. Find out more and register by 28 February 2025 to join us in March 2025 in Liverpool, UK.
Call for papers – Lifelong Development: the Maintenance, Regeneration and Plasticity of Tissues

Development invites you to submit your latest research to our upcoming special issue – Lifelong Development: the Maintenance, Regeneration and Plasticity of Tissues. This issue will be coordinated by Guest Editors Meritxell Huch (Max Planck Institute of Molecular Cell Biology and Genetics, Germany) and Mansi Srivastava (Harvard University and Museum of Comparative Zoology, USA), working alongside our team of academic Editors. Submit your articles by 15 May 2025.
A case for broadening our view of mechanism in developmental biology

In this Perspective, B. Duygu Özpolat and colleagues survey researchers on their views on what it takes to infer mechanism in developmental biology. They examine what factors shape our idea of what we mean by ‘mechanism’ and suggest a path forward that embraces a broad outlook on the diversity of studies that advance knowledge in our field.
In preprints
Did you know that Development publishes perspectives on recent preprints? These articles help our readers navigate the ever-growing preprint literature. We welcome proposals for ‘In preprints’ articles, so please do get in touch if you’d like to contribute.