Hairless, also known as H, is a well-characterized Drosophilagene.[1] Since Hairless is a dominant loss of function mutation, many mutations to Hairless are embryonic lethal, but there are several viable hairless mutants.[2] This specific Drosophila gene is involved in the Notch signaling pathway (NSP) by acting as a suppressor of the organism's Notch signaling.[3] This interaction of the NSP can be seen in Figure 1.
In Drosophila, NSPs allow for communication intercellularly during embryo development, and the physiological activities of adult organisms. Furthermore, these pathways turn on periodically during devolvement to help determine cell fate functions of the cell. Since Hairless (H) is an antagonist of the NSP, as well as a “key member of the Su[H] repressor complex[4]", it plays a significant part of embryo development in insects because it helps influence cell fate decisions during this time.[4]
Файл:Drosophila H and wt.jpgFigure 2. Hand-drawn Image Showing the Differing Phenotypes Between the Wild Type ("wt") and Hairless ("H") Drosophila.
It is crucial that proteins HP120 and HP150 are present in the organism as they control the normal activity of H.[4] This activity regulation also controls NSP, which allows the fly embryos to develop correctly, and if there is any fluctuation in the pathway or the proteins, it can change the outcome of the offspring.[4] The two most common changes in the Drosophila phenotype as a result of Hairless mutation are bristle loss and vein gaps.[5] These changes can be seen in Figure 2.
