Rhomboid Antibody (dN-13)-R: sc-21662-R

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Drosophila melanogaster is a proven and effective model for studying developmental and cellular processes common to higher eukaryotes. Approximately 13,600 genes have been elucidated from more than 120 megabases of euchromatin, and they are organized among the chromosomes 2, 3, 4, X and Y, with the Y chromosome being predominately heterochromatic (1). Drosophila genes can be categorized based on the type of protein for which they encode and are represented by six major classifications, which include intracellular signaling proteins, transmembrane proteins, RNA binding proteins, secreted factors, transcription regulators (basic helix-loop-helix, homeodomain containing, zinc finger containing, and chromatin associated) or other functional proteins (2). The Drosophila rhomboid gene maps to chromosome 3 and encodes a 355 amino acid protein (3). Rhomboid (rho) belongs to a group of four genes involved in the elaboration of positional information at a ventrolateral level in the developing Drosophila embryo (4,5). At the cellular level, rho protein is a cell surface, seven transmembrane domain protein that promotes the cleavage of the membrane- anchored TGFalpha-like growth factor Spitz, allowing it to activate the Drosophila EGF receptor (6-8).