Epithelial cells use a striking array of morphogenetic behaviors to sculpt organs and body plans during development. Although it is clear that epithelial morphogenesis is largely driven by cytoskeletal rearrangements and changes in cell adhesion, little is known about how these processes are coordinated to construct complex biological structures from simple sheets of cells. The follicle cell epithelium of the Drosophila egg chamber exhibits a diverse range of epithelial movements in a genetically accessible tissue, making it an outstanding system for the study of epithelial morphogenesis. In this review, we move chronologically through the process of oogenesis, highlighting the dynamic movements of the follicle cells. We discuss the cellular architecture and patterning events that set the stage for morphogenesis, detail individual cellular movements, and focus on current knowledge of the cellular processes that drive follicle

Epithelial renewal in the Drosophila intestine is orchestrated by Intestinal Stem Cells (ISCs). Following damage or stress the intestinal epithelium produces ligands that activate the epi-dermal growth factor receptor (EGFR) in ISCs. This promotes their growth and division and, thereby, epithelial regeneration. Here we demonstrate that the HMG-box transcriptional repressor, Capicua (Cic), mediates these functions of EGFR signaling. Depleting Cic in ISCs activated them for division, whereas overexpressed Cic inhibited ISC proliferation and midgut regeneration. Epistasis tests showed that Cic acted as an essential downstream effector of EGFR/Ras signaling, and immunofluorescence showed that Cic’s nuclear locali-zation was regulated by EGFR signaling. ISC-specific mRNA expression profiling and DNA binding mapping using DamID indicated that Cic represses cell proliferation via direct tar-gets including string (Cdc25), Cyclin E, and the ETS domain transcription factors Ets21C and Pointed (pnt). pnt was required for ISC over-proliferation following Cic depletion, and ectopic pnt restored ISC proliferation even in the presence of overexpressed dominant-active Cic. These studies identify Cic, Pnt, and Ets21C as critical downstream effectors of

Receptor Tyrosine Kinase (RTK) signaling pathways induce multiple biological responses, often by regulating the expression of downstream genes. The HMG-box protein Capicua (Cic) is a transcriptional repressor that is downregulated in response to RTK signaling, thereby enabling RTK-dependent induction of Cic targets. In both Drosophila and mammals, Cic is expressed as two isoforms, long (Cic-L) and short (Cic-S), whose functional significance and mechanism of action are not well understood. Here we show that Drosophila Cic relies on the Groucho (Gro) corepressor during its function in the early embryo, but not during other stages of development. This Gro-dependent mechanism requires a short peptide motif, unique to Cic-S and designated N2, which is distinct from other previously defined Gro-interacting motifs and functions as an autonomous, transferable repressor element. Unexpectedly, our data indicate that the N2 motif is an evolutionary innovation that originated within dipteran insects, as the Cic-S isoform evolved from an ancestral Cic-L-type form. Accordingly, the Cic-L isoform lacking the N2 motif is completely inactive in early Drosophila embryos, indicating that the N2 motif endowed Cic-S with a novel Gro-dependent activity that is obligatory at this stage. We suggest that Cic-S and Gro coregulatory functions have facilitated the evolution of the complex transcriptional network regulated by Torso RTK signaling in modern fly embryos. Notably, our results also imply that mammalian Cic proteins are unlikely to act via Gro and that their Cic-S isoform must have evolved independently of fly Cic-S. Thus, Cic proteins employ distinct repressor