Ecdysone and the cell cycle: Investigations in a mosquito cell line

Ann M. Fallon, Anna Gerenday

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

19 Scopus citations

Abstract

Cell lines provide a tool for investigating basic biological processes that underlie the complex interactions among the tissues and organs of an intact organism. We compare the evolution of insect and mammalian populations as they progress from diploid cell strains to continuous cell lines, and review the history of the well-characterized Aedes albopictus mosquito cell line, C7-10. Like Kc and S3 cells from Drosophila melanogaster, C7-10 cells are sensitive to the insect steroid hormone, 20-hydroxyecdysone (20E), and express 20E-inducible proteins as well as the EcR and USP components of the ecdysteroid receptor. The decrease in growth associated with 20E treatment results in an accumulation of cells in the G1 phase of the cycle, and a concomitant decrease in levels of cyclin A. In contrast, 20E induces a G2 arrest in a well-studied imaginal disc cell line from the moth, Plodia interpunctella. We hypothesize that 20E-mediated events associated with molting and metamorphosis include effects on regulatory proteins that modulate the mitotic cell cycle and that differences between the 20E response in diverse insect cell lines reflect an interplay between classical receptor-mediated effects on gene expression and non-classical effects on signaling pathways similar to those recently described for the vertebrate steroid hormone, estrogen.

Original languageEnglish (US)
Pages (from-to)1396-1401
Number of pages6
JournalJournal of Insect Physiology
Volume56
Issue number10
DOIs
StatePublished - Oct 2010

Bibliographical note

Funding Information:
AMF thanks Dr. Judy Willis for introducing her to the Society for In vitro Biology (formerly, the Tissue Culture Association) and for unfailing encouragement and support of her scientific career. Work in the Fallon laboratory was supported by grants from the National Institutes of Health.

Keywords

  • 20-Hydroxyecdysone
  • Cell cycle
  • Insect cell lines
  • Mosquito

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