The complex role of Naked cuticle in Drosophila wing development

It is of tremendous interests to understand how Wnt signaling is regulated in a precise manner both temporally and spatially. Naked cuticle (Nkd) acts as a negative-feedback inhibitor for Wingless (Wg, a fly Wnt) signaling in Drosophila embryonic development. In the present study, we show that nkd is essential for wing pattern formation, such that both gain and loss of nkd result in the disruption of Wg target expression in larvae stage and abnormal adult wing morphologies. Our results of high-throughput sequencing suggest that nkd have profound effects on Drosophila wing development with several critical signaling pathways involved, we conclude that Nkd inhibits the canonical Wg pathway during Drosophila wing development beyond embryonic stage and may play a mediated role in cross-talk between development-related pathways. mRNA profiles of third instar larval wing discs expressing GFP or Nkd recombinant proteins under the control of MS1096-Gal4.