PAUL N. ADLER

    Professor of Biology

Research Interest

My major research interest is the genetic control of morphogenesis at the interface between the cell and tissue levels. As a model system we have studied the Drosophila wing, which is covered with an array of distally pointing hairs. We have found hair polarity is controlled via regulating the subcellular location for initiation of the growth of the pupal prehair that gives rise to the adult hair. Distally pointing hairs form at the distal most region of the cell and grow in a distal direction. Mutations that alter polarity always alter the subcellular location for prehair initiation. We have identified and studied at the molecular and genetic levels a number of genes that comprise part of an intercellular signaling and intracellular signal transduction pathway (the frizzled pathway) that regulates the
subcellular location for prehair initiation. A major goal of the lab is to elucidate the who (i.e. which genes and cells are important for sending, receiving and responding to the polarity signal), what (i.e what is the molecular nature of the signal and signal transduction machinery), when (i.e. when does the signaling take place), where (i.e. is there a special population of signaling cells and how does the signal spread across the tissue), and how (i.e. what are the cellular and biochemical mechanisms involved) of this system. We are also studying how cells insure the integrity of cellular extensions.

The morphogenesis of epidermal hairs, arista laterals and sensory bristle shafts share many common features. The function of both the actin and microtubule cytoskeletons is essential for their morphogenesis and many mutations produce similar phenotypic effects in all three of these cell types. Mutations in the tricornered and furry genes result in the splitting of all three extensions and genetic experiments suggest these two genes function in a common pathway that insured extension integrity. We have shown that tricornered encodes the Drosophila NDR kinase and that furry encodes a large conserved protein. We plan to continue to study these genes and proteins and the splitting phenomenon at the cellular and molecular level. Current experiments are making important use of in vivo imaging approaches.

Representative Recent Publications

  1. Krasnow, R.E., Wong, L. L. and Adler, P.N. (1995) dishevelled is a component of the frizzled signalling pathway. Development, 121:4095-4102.
  2. Park, W.J., Liu, J. and Adler, P.N. (1996). The Drosophila tissue polarity gene inturned acts cell autonomously and encodes a novel protein. Development 122: 961-969.
  3. Adler, P.N., Krasnow, R.E. and Liu, J. (1997). Tissue polarity points from cells of higher toward cells of lower Frizzled levels. Current Biology 7: 940-949.
  4. Turner, C.M. and Adler, P.N. (1998). The actin and microtubule cytoskeletons have distinct functions in the morphogenesis of prehairs by pupal wing cells of Drosophila. Mechanisms of Development, 7: 181-192.
  5. Adler, P.N., Charlton, J., and Liu, J. (1998). Mutuations in the cadherin superfamily gene dachsous have a tissue polarity phenotype and affect frizzled signaling. Development 125: 959-968.
  6. Taylor, J., Abramova, N. Charlton, J. and Adler, P.N. (1998). Van Gogh - a new tissue polarity gene. Genetics . 150: 199-210.
  7. Chae, J.W., Kim, M.J., Goo, J.H., Collier, S., Gubb, D., Charlton, J., Adler, P.N. and Park, W.J. (1999). The Drosophila tissue polarity gene starry night encodes a member of the protocadherin family. Development, 126: 5421-5429.
  8. Collier, S., Chan, H. Y. E., Toda, T., McKimmie, C., Johnson, G., Adler, P.
    N., O'Kane, C. and Ashburner, M. (2000). The Drosophila embargoed gene is required for larval progression and encodes the functional homolog of
    Schizosacchromyces Crm1. Genetics 155: 1799-1807.
  9. Adler, P. N., Taylor, J. and Charlton, J. (2000). The Domineering Nonautonomy of frizzled and Van Gogh Clones in the Drosophila Wing is a
    Consequence of a Disruption in Local Signaling. Mech. Dev. 96: 197-207.
  10. Geng, W., He, B., Wang, M. and Adler, P. N. (2000). The tricornered gene,
    which encodes the Drosophila NDR kinase is required to maintain the
    integrity of cellular extensions. Genetics 156:1817-1828.
  11. He, B. and Adler, P. N. (2001). Cellular Mechanisms in the Development of
    the Drosphila arista. Mech. Dev, 104:69-78.
  12. Cong, J., Geng, W., He, B., Liu, J., Charlton, J. and P. N. Adler (2001). The furry gene of Drosophila is important for maintaining the integrity of cellular extensions during morphogenesis. Development, in press.

 

For more information email pna@virginia.edu.