Developmental origin of tendon diversity in Drosophila melanogaster

Blandine Moucaud; Elodie Prince; Krzysztof Jagla; Cédric Soler

doi:10.3389/fphys.2023.1176148

Developmental origin of tendon diversity in Drosophila melanogaster

Front Physiol. 2023 Apr 18:14:1176148. doi: 10.3389/fphys.2023.1176148. eCollection 2023.

Authors

Blandine Moucaud¹, Elodie Prince¹, Krzysztof Jagla¹, Cédric Soler¹

Affiliation

¹ GReD Institut, UMR CNRS 6293, INSERM U1103, University of Clermont-Auvergne, Clermont-Ferrand, France.

Abstract

Myogenesis is a developmental process that is largely conserved in both Drosophila and higher organisms. Consequently, the fruit fly is an excellent in vivo model for identifying the genes and mechanisms involved in muscle development. Moreover, there is growing evidence indicating that specific conserved genes and signaling pathways govern the formation of tissues that connect the muscles to the skeleton. In this review, we present an overview of the different stages of tendon development, from the specification of tendon progenitors to the assembly of a stable myotendinous junction across three different myogenic contexts in Drosophila: larval, flight and leg muscle development. We underline the different aspects of tendon cell specification and differentiation in embryo and during metamorphosis that result into tendon morphological and functional diversity.

Keywords: Drosophila; development; muscle; myogenesis; tendon.

Publication types

Review

Grants and funding

This work was supported by the iGReD institute (INSERM U1103, CNRS 6293, University of Clermont-Auvergne), AFM-Téléthon (MyoNeurAlp Strategic Program), Agence Nationale pour la Recherche (ANR LIMBCT) and the iSITE CAP2025 Grant.