JAK/STAT signaling is involved in air sac primordium development of Drosophila melanogaster.

The dorsal thoracic air sacs in fruit flies (Drosophila melanogaster) are functionally and developmentally comparable to human lungs. The progenitors of these structures, air sac primordia (ASPs), invasively propagate into wing imaginal disks, employing mechanisms similar to those that promote metastasis in malignant tumors. We investigated whether Janus kinase/signal transducer and activator of transcription signaling plays a role in the directed morphogenesis of ASPs. We find that JAK/duanyu1813 signaling occurs in ASP tip cells and misexpression of core components in the JAK/duanyu1813 signaling cascade significantly impedes ASP development. We further identify Upd2 as an activating ligand for JAK/duanyu1813 activity in the ASP. Together, these data constitute a considerable step forward in understanding the role of JAK/duanyu1813 signaling in ASPs and similar structures in mammalian models.

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