HTT is a repressor of ABL activity required for APP induced axonal growth

ABSTRACT ABL tyrosine kinase activity controls several aspects of development including axon patterning. Amyloid precursor protein (APP) is linked to Alzheimer’s disease and previous work established that ABL is a downstream effector in an Appl , the Drosophila App ortholog, signaling pathway which modulates axon outgrowth in the mushroom bodies (MBs), the fly memory center. Here we show that Abl is required for the MB neuron axonal growth. Importantly, both Abl overexpression and lack of expression produce a similar phenotype in the MBs indicating the necessity of tightly regulating ABL activity. We find that the fly huntingtin protein (HTT), the homolog of the protein involved in Huntington’s disease, behaves genetically as a repressor of ABL activity. Supporting this, FRET-based measurements of in vivo ABL activity in the MBs reveal a clear increase in its activity when HTT levels are reduced. Thus, in addition to its many other reported roles, HTT acts as a negative regulator of ABL activity, at least in the MBs, to maintain its appropriate physiological levels necessary for axon growth.