A new collaborative publication by Karkali et al. in Nature Communications on the role of the phosphatase Puckered in pioneer neurons.
Further to her previous paper in Nature Communications, Katerina Karkali has recently published complementary work on the role of the phosphatase Puckered and the kinase JNK in coordinating motor activity of the Drosophila embryo. This work was a collaboration between the Instituto de Biología Molecular de Barcelona (CSIC – Martin-Blanco lab), the University of Manchester Academic Health Science Centre (Baines lab) and BSRC Fleming (Panayotou lab).
These data uncover an intimate causal link between the temporal control of the activation of the JNK pathway in pioneer neurons, the correct structural organization of axonal networks, the eventual condensation of the Ventral Nerve Cord (VNC), and embryonic motor coordination, which is independent of its function in modulating firing capability.
Katerina Karkali, Samuel W. Vernon, Richard A. Baines, George Panayotou & Enrique Martín-Blanco (2023) Puckered and JNK signaling in pioneer neurons coordinates the motor activity of the Drosophila embryo. Nature Communications, 14:8186. doi.org/10.1038/s41467-023-43783-1.
PDF available at https://www.nature.com/articles/s41467-023-43783-1 .