PT  - JOURNAL ARTICLE
AU  - Liqun Yuan
AU  - Shu Hu
AU  - Zeynep Okray
AU  - Xi Ren
AU  - Natalie De Geest
AU  - Annelies Claeys
AU  - Jiekun Yan
AU  - Eric Bellefroid
AU  - Bassem A. Hassan
AU  - Xiao-Jiang Quan
TI  - The <em>Drosophila</em> Neurogenin, Tap, controls axonal growth through the Wnt adaptor protein Dishevelled
AID  - 10.1101/034439
DP  - 2015 Jan 01
TA  - bioRxiv
PG  - 034439
4099  - http://biorxiv.org/content/early/2015/12/15/034439.short
4100  - http://biorxiv.org/content/early/2015/12/15/034439.full
AB  - The Neurogenin (Ngn) transcription factors control early neurogenesis and neurite outgrowth in mammalian cortex. In contrast to their proneural activity, their function in neurite growth is poorly understood. Drosophila has a single predicted Ngn homologue called Tap, whose function is completely unknown. Here we show that Tap is not a proneural protein in Drosophila but is required for proper axonal growth and guidance of neurons of the mushroom body (MB), a neuropile required for associative learning and memory. Genetic and expression analyses suggest that Tap inhibits excessive axonal growth by fine regulation of the levels of the Wnt signaling adaptor protein, Dishevelled.Summary The Drosophila Neurogenin homologue, Target of Pox neuro (Tap), prevents axonal overgrowth by regulating the Wnt Planar Cell Polarity pathway adaptor protein Dishevelled.