Size assessment and growth control: how adult size is determined in insects
Top Cited Papers
- 20 March 2007
- Vol. 29 (4), 344-355
- https://doi.org/10.1002/bies.20552
Abstract
Size control depends on both the regulation of growth rate and the control over when to stop growing. Studies of Drosophila melanogaster have shown that insulin and Target of Rapamycin (TOR) pathways play principal roles in controlling nutrition‐dependent growth rates. A TOR‐mediated nutrient sensor in the fat body detects nutrient availability, and regulates insulin signaling in peripheral tissues, which in turn controls larval growth rates. After larvae initiate metamorphosis, growth stops. For growth to stop at the correct time, larvae need to surpass a critical weight. Recently, it was found that the insulin‐dependent growth of the prothoracic gland is involved in assessing when critical weight has been reached. Furthermore, mutations in DHR4, a repressor of ecdysone signaling, reduce critical weight and adult size. Thus, the mechanisms that control growth rates converge on those assessing size to ensure that the larvae attain the appropriate size at metamorphosis. BioEssays 29:344–355, 2007.Keywords
This publication has 76 references indexed in Scilit:
- The evolution of phosphatidylinositol 3-kinases as regulators of growth and metabolismNature Reviews Genetics, 2006
- TOR coordinates bulk and targeted endocytosis in the Drosophila melanogaster fat body to regulate cell growthThe Journal of cell biology, 2006
- Regulation of insect steroid hormone biosynthesis by innervating peptidergic neuronsProceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America, 2006
- Critical nodes in signalling pathways: insights into insulin actionNature Reviews Molecular Cell Biology, 2006
- Phosphorylation and Regulation of Akt/PKB by the Rictor-mTOR ComplexScience, 2005
- A Nutrient Sensor Mechanism Controls Drosophila GrowthCell, 2003
- Nutrient-Dependent Expression of Insulin-like Peptides from Neuroendocrine Cells in the CNS Contributes to Growth Regulation in DrosophilaCurrent Biology, 2002
- mTOR Interacts with Raptor to Form a Nutrient-Sensitive Complex that Signals to the Cell Growth MachineryCell, 2002
- Drosophila PTEN Regulates Cell Growth and Proliferation through PI3K-Dependent and -Independent PathwaysDevelopmental Biology, 2000
- Regulation of imaginal disc cell size, cell number and organ size by Drosophila class IA phosphoinositide 3-kinase and its adaptorCurrent Biology, 1999