Revealing the proliferation rate in insect organs by BrdU antibody staining

Author of the article:ZHANG XuBo ,SHEN Jie

Author's Workplace：Department of Entomology, China Agricutural University, Beijing100193, China

Key Words：insect developmental biology, Bromodeoxyuridine (BrdU), proliferation, insect organs, wing, Brinker

Abstract：A synthetic nucleoside, Bromodeoxyuridine (5bromo2′deoxyuridine, BrdU), is commonly used to detect proliferating cells in living tissues. This compound is an analogue of thymidine and is incorporated into newly synthesized DNA of S phase cells by being substituted for thymidine during DNA replication. Immunohistochemical staining of BrdU is then used to detect the incorporated BrdU and thereby reveal the actively replicating cells. This article introduces an optimized BrdU protocol for detecting cell proliferation in small insect organs. Using this technique, we reassessed the role of a transcriptional repressor, Brinker, in the Dpp signaling pathway controlling growth regulation during wing disc development. We found that, contrary to previous belief, Brinker is not a growth repressor in the wing pouch.