Germline cyst formation via incomplete cytokinesis (IC) is necessary to generate functional eggs and sperm in various organisms. Drosophila melanogaster oogenesis is an ideal system for studying IC. 29 stages of germline cyst formation can be identified in D. melanogaster oogenesis. We have defined necessary terminology to describe IC and have developed a method to measure the sizes of contractile rings and ring canals. Time course study of germline cyst formation demonstrates that contractile ring constriction proceeds to a defined end point unique for each mitotic division. Contractile rings constrict to a greater degree, resulting in smaller ring diameters, for each subsequent round of mitotic division. Contrary to conventional wisdom, ring canal growth is not initiated until well after the fourth mitotic division. Ring canals grow, in an orderly manner, with ring canals derived from the first mitotic division enlarging first followed by those from the second, then those from the third, and finally those from the fourth mitotic division. This work establishes a foundation for identifying genes specific for IC and for elucidating the molecular mechanism underlying this aspect of germline cyst formation.

Using an FLP/FRT-based method to create germline clones, we screened Drosophila chromosome arms 2L and 3R for new female meiotic mutants. The screen was designed to recover mutants with severe effects on meiotic exchange and/or segregation. This screen yielded 11 new mutants, including six alleles of previously known meiotic genes (c(2)M and ald/mps1). The remaining five mutants appear to define at least four new genes whose ablation results in severe meiotic defects. Three of the novel meiotic mutants were identified at the molecular level. Two of these, mcm5(A7) and trem(F9), define roles in meiotic recombination, while a third, cona(A12), is important for synaptonemal complex assembly. Surprisingly, five of the nine mutants for which the lesion has been identified at the molecular level are not the result of mutations characteristic of EMS mutagenesis, but rather due to the insertion of the transposable element Doc. This study demonstrates the utility of germline clone-based screens for the discovery of strong meiotic mutants, including mutations in essential genes, and the use of molecular genetic techniques to map the loci.

Ring canals, also known as stable intercellular bridges, are derived from the contractile rings of incomplete cytokinesis (IC) in most organisms. Formation of ring canals is necessary to generate functional eggs and sperm in multiple organisms including insects, birds, mammals and various plants. How the constriction of a contractile ring is arrested and how an arrested contractile ring is transformed into a ring canal is unknown. We describe here the function of the Drosophila melanogaster myosin binding subunit of myosin phosphatase (DMYPT) in both processes. We have found that DMYPT is highly enriched in the cytoplasm of cells undergoing IC during oogenesis. DMYPT mutations in germ cells, but not in somatic follicle cells, resulted in over-constriction of contractile rings and ring canals. This leads to formation of small ring canals and mis-regulation of centriole migration during female germline cyst formation. Our results suggest that there may be two parallel mechanisms to prevent the contractile rings from being completely closed, physical resistance and inhibition of myosin II activity via DMYPT.

Identifying effective drug targets, with little or no side effects, remains an ever challenging task. A potential pitfall of failing to uncover the correct drug targets, due to side effect of pleiotropic genes, might lead the potential drugs to be illicit and withdrawn. Simplifying disease complexity, for the investigation of the mechanistic aspects and identification of effective drug targets, have been done through several approaches of protein interactome analysis. Of these, centrality measures have always gained importance in identifying candidate drug targets. Here, we put forward an integrated method of analysing a complex network of cancer and depict the importance of k-core, functional connectivity and centrality (KFC) for identifying effective drug targets. Essentially, we have extracted the proteins involved in the pathways leading to cancer from the pathway databases which enlist real experimental datasets. The interactions between these proteins were mapped to build an interactome. Integrative analyses of the interactome enabled us to unearth plausible reasons for drugs being rendered withdrawn, thereby giving future scope to pharmaceutical industries to potentially avoid them (e.g. ESR1, HDAC2, F2, PLG, PPARA, RXRA, etc). Based upon our KFC criteria, we have shortlisted ten proteins (GRB2, FYN, PIK3R1, CBL, JAK2, LCK, LYN, SYK, JAK1 and SOCS3) as effective candidates for drug development.

Acanthamoeba is a genus of free‐living amoebae, pervasively found in the environment. Most of its pathogenic species are the causative agent of sight‐threatening Acanthamoeba keratitis and fatal granulomatous amoebic encephalitis. Despite the advancements in the field of chemotherapy, treating Acanthamoeba infections is still challenging due to incomplete knowledge of the complicated pathophysiology. In case of infection, the treatment regimen for the patients is often ineffective due to delayed diagnosis, poor specificity, and side‐effects. Besides the resistance of Acanthamoeba cysts to most of the drugs, the recurrence of infection further complicates the recovery. Thus, it is necessary to develop an effective treatment which can eradicate these rare, but serious infections. Based on various computational and in vitro studies, it has been established that the synthetic scaffolds such as heterocyclic compounds may act as potential drug leads for the development of antiamoebic drugs. In this review, we report different classes of synthetic compounds especially heterocyclic compounds which have shown promising results against Acanthamoeba. Moreover, the antiamoebic activities of synthetic compounds with their possible mode of actions against Acanthamoeba, have been summarized and discussed in this review.