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Doing the MATH: is the mouse a good model for fly development?

2000; Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory Press; Volume: 14; Issue: 15 Linguagem: Inglês

10.1101/gad.14.15.1852

1549-5477

Bassem A. Hassan, Hugo J. Bellen,

Developmental Biology and Gene Regulation

Members of the superfamily of basic helix-loop-helix (bHLH) proteins have been shown to play important roles in neurogenesis in many species.Neuronal bHLH proteins can be divided into two families: the Achaete-Scute complex (AS-C) related proteins and the Atonalrelated proteins, or ARPs.In this review we discuss the ARPs, focusing on their functional diversity within each organism and contrasting it with the remarkable conservation of some of the functions across species.In reviewing the current data, three themes emerge.First, the sequence of the basic domain is sufficient to delineate the different groups of ARPs.Second, the structural similarities among the three groups of ARPs, namely the Neurogenin group, the NeuroD group, and the ATO group, appear to reflect functional similarities.Finally, the dual functions of Drosophila proneural ARPs in precursor selection and lineage identity specification may have been uncoupled in vertebrates.