Skip to main page content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Access keys NCBI Homepage MyNCBI Homepage Main Content Main Navigation
Comment
. 2018 Mar 27:7:e36030.
doi: 10.7554/eLife.36030.

Cherub versus brat

Jennifer A Malin  1 , Claude Desplan  1
Affiliations
Comment

Cherub versus brat

Jennifer A Malin et al. Elife. .

Abstract

A long non-coding RNA molecule called cherub is a driver of tumor development.

Keywords: D. melanogaster; brat; cancer biology; cherub; developmental biology; lncRNA; neural stem cells; neuroblasts; stem cells; tumorigenesis.

PubMed Disclaimer

Conflict of interest statement

JM, CD No competing interests declared

Figures

Figure 1.
Figure 1.. Misregulation of cherub RNA causes tumor growth.
Neurons develop from neural stem cells called neuroblasts and specialized cells called intermediate neural progenitor (INP) cells. Landskron et al. found that a long non-coding RNA (lncRNA) named cherub has a role in the development of brain tumors. (A) In healthy flies, the protein Staufen (yellow half circle) anchors cherub (red half circle) to the basal part of the neuroblast cell membrane. After the neuroblast divides, cherub is inherited in the INP cell and spreads within it. As neuroblasts mature, they start to produce the protein Syncrip (Syp: green), which reduces the levels of a protein called Imp (blue). (B) In flies that lack the tumor suppressor gene brat, cherub remains at the cell membrane of the INP cells. When Syp is expressed as the neuroblast ages, it also remains anchored to cell membrane of the neuroblast by cherub and Staufen. This prevents Syp from repressing Imp, and some of the INP cells develop into tumor neuroblasts. (C) In flies that lack brat and cherub, cherub can no longer tether Syp; this allows Syp to inhibit Imp, and the neuroblasts are able to mature.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

Comment on

References

    1. Bello BC, Izergina N, Caussinus E, Reichert H. Amplification of neural stem cell proliferation by intermediate progenitor cells in Drosophila brain development. Neural Development. 2008;3:5. doi: 10.1186/1749-8104-3-5. - DOI - PMC - PubMed
    1. Boone JQ, Doe CQ. Identification of Drosophila type II neuroblast lineages containing transit amplifying ganglion mother cells. Developmental Neurobiology. 2008;68:1185–1195. doi: 10.1002/dneu.20648. - DOI - PMC - PubMed
    1. Bowman SK, Rolland V, Betschinger J, Kinsey KA, Emery G, Knoblich JA. The tumor suppressors Brat and Numb regulate transit-amplifying neuroblast lineages in Drosophila. Developmental Cell. 2008;14:535–546. doi: 10.1016/j.devcel.2008.03.004. - DOI - PMC - PubMed
    1. Guttman M, Donaghey J, Carey BW, Garber M, Grenier JK, Munson G, Young G, Lucas AB, Ach R, Bruhn L, Yang X, Amit I, Meissner A, Regev A, Rinn JL, Root DE, Lander ES. lincRNAs act in the circuitry controlling pluripotency and differentiation. Nature. 2011;477:295–300. doi: 10.1038/nature10398. - DOI - PMC - PubMed
    1. Hanahan D, Weinberg RA. Hallmarks of cancer: the next generation. Cell. 2011;144:646–674. doi: 10.1016/j.cell.2011.02.013. - DOI - PubMed

LinkOut - more resources