Control of protein degradation by E3 ubiquitin ligases in Drosophila eye development

The eukaryotic protein degradation pathway has a large number of components, including several E3 ubiquitin ligases that are predicted to have regulatory roles. Control of protein stability by the degradation machinery in a cell-context-dependent manner can be elucidated in the well-defined Drosophila compound eye. During development, the Drosophila eye imaginal disk consists of only a few cell types, and consecutive differentiation stages of these cells can be examined within a single eye disk. Here, we summarize recent advances in the understanding of how E3 ubiquitin ligases control cell proliferation, specification, differentiation and death during Drosophila eye development.