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First published online July 31, 2003

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Cell size control - Rheb'ing up

Control of cell size and control of cell number are both critical for normal development. We know much about how cell number is regulated but much less about mechanisms that control cell size. Signalling molecules that do appear to be important are insulin and target of rapamycin (TOR), which target the kinase dS6K. Fuyuhiko Tamanoi, Judith Lengyel and co-workers have now identified another player: Rheb, a Ras-family GTPase (see p. 3601). Having pulled out Drosophila Rheb (dRheb) in a screen for genes that affect hindgut morphogenesis, the authors show that overexpression of dRheb produces a dramatic increase in cell size in the wings of developing flies and excessive growth of several other tissues - it has similar effects in cultured S2 cells. By contrast, they observe that dRheb^-/- clones in the fly eye exhibit a reduction in cell size, as do S2 cells in which dRheb expression is blocked. Their studies also indicate that dRheb affects cell cycle progression. The authors ultimately pin down the dRheb effect by showing that it can be blocked by rapamycin. They therefore conclude that the Rheb GTPase is a novel cell size regulator that lies upstream of TOR.

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Related articles in JCS:

Drosophila Rheb GTPase is required for cell cycle progression and cell growth

Parthive H. Patel, Nitika Thapar, Lea Guo, Monica Martinez, John Maris, Chia-Ling Gau, Judith A. Lengyel, and Fuyuhiko Tamanoi
JCS 2003 116: 3601-3610. [Abstract] [Full Text]  

This Article Full Text (PDF) Alert me when this article is cited Alert me if a correction is posted Services Email this article to a friend Related articles in JCS Similar articles in this journal Alert me to new issues of the journal Download to citation manager Citing Articles Citing Articles via Google Scholar Google Scholar Search for Related Content Social Bookmarking                         What's this?