Interaction of bride of sevenless membrane-bound ligand and the sevenless tyrosine-kinase receptor.

During development of the Drosophila retina, the R8 photoreceptor neuron induces a neighbouring cell to assume an R7 cell fate. Genetic data suggest that the induction is mediated by two transmembrane proteins encoded by bride of sevenless and sevenless. A direct interaction between these two proteins was demonstrated by the heterotypic aggregation of cell lines expressing them. In the developing eye the sevenless-dependent internalization of bride of sevenless by the R7 precursor cell provides evidence for a direct interaction between these two proteins in vivo.