ArticleBiophysical journal2011
Measurement and perturbation of morphogen lifetime: effects on gradient shape.
Article in Biophysical journal, 2011. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 31 papers.
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Who cites it
31 citing papers in PubMed, 76 citations in OpenAlex.
- Energetic gradients emerge in developing motor-microtubule structures.bioRxiv : the preprint server for biology · 2026Article
- Stable developmental patterns of gene expression without morphogen gradients.PLoS computational biology · 2024Article
- Long-range formation of the Bicoid gradient requires multiple dynamic modes that spatially vary across the embryo.Development (Cambridge, England) · 2024Article
- Revisiting bicoid function: complete inactivation reveals an additional fundamental role in Drosophila egg geometry specification.Hereditas · 2024Article
- Structure-function analysis of Cdc25Fly · 2022Article
- Patterning principles of morphogen gradients.Open biology · 2022Review
- Trading bits in the readout from a genetic network.Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America · 2021Article
- Introduction to special issue: Biophysics of development.Biophysical journal · 2021Article
- Article
- Modulating the bicoid gradient in space and time.Hereditas · 2021Article
- Quantifying Temperature Compensation of Bicoid Gradients with a Fast T-Tunable Microfluidic Device.Biophysical journal · 2020Article
- Bicoid gradient formation mechanism and dynamics revealed by protein lifetime analysis.Molecular systems biology · 2018Article
- Article
- Article
- Spatially Different Tissue-Scale Diffusivity Shapes ANGUSTIFOLIA3 Gradient in Growing Leaves.Biophysical journal · 2017Article
- Measuring protein stability in living zebrafish embryos using fluorescence decay after photoconversion (FDAP).Journal of visualized experiments : JoVE · 2015Article
- Estimating binding properties of transcription factors from genome-wide binding profiles.Nucleic acids research · 2015Article
- Mobility of signaling molecules: the key to deciphering plant organogenesis.Journal of plant research · 2015Review
- The embryo as a laboratory: quantifying transcription in Drosophila.Trends in genetics : TIG · 2014Review
- Maternal origins of developmental reproducibility.Current biology : CB · 2014Article
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Authors and funding
4 authors at 2 institutions in 1 country.
Funding
Abstract
Protein lifetime is of critical importance for most biological processes and plays a central role in cell signaling and embryonic development, where it impacts the absolute concentration of signaling molecules and, potentially, the shape of morphogen gradients. Early conceptual and mathematical models of gradient formation proposed that steady-state gradients are established by an equilibration between the lifetime of a morphogen and its rates of synthesis and diffusion, though whether gradients in fact reach steady state before being read out is a matter of controversy. In any case, this class of models predicts that protein lifetime is a key determinant of both the time to steady state and the spatial extent of a gradient. Using a method that employs repeated photoswitching of a fusion of the morphogen Bicoid (Bcd) and the photoconvertible fluorescent protein Dronpa, we measure and modify the lifetime of Dronpa-Bcd in living Drosophila embryos. We find that the lifetime of Bcd is dynamic, changing from 50 min before mitotic cycle 14 to 15 min during cellularization. Moreover, by measuring total quantities of Bcd over time, we find that the gradient does not reach steady state. Finally, using a nearly continuous low-level conversion to the dark state of Dronpa-Bcd to mimic the effect of increased degradation, we demonstrate that perturbation of protein lifetime changes the characteristic length of the gradient, providing direct support for a mechanism based on synthesis, diffusion, and degradation.
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Registered trials
Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.