Table 1.

Comparison of factors involved in vertebrate and Drosophila lens development

Vertebrate		Invertebrate
lens placode/ MF
Pax6		Pax6
Six3		So/Optix
Eya1		Eya
BMP		Dpp
AEL/ SMW
FGF	Proliferation	EGF	Proliferation
Foxe3	Proliferation	Jumuea	Proliferation?
Pitx3	Proliferation
PDGF	Proliferation
Transition zone
FGF	Cell cycle exit	EGF	Cell cycle exit
Notch	Cell cycle exit	Notch	Cell cycle exit
Six5		So	pros expression
Eya1		Eya	pros expression
		Ttk	cell cycle exit
		Glass	pros expression
		Lz	pros and dPax2 expression
		Cut	dpn repression
Lens differentiation/ Specification
Pax6	Fiber cell elongation	dPax2	a/p CCs, PPCs; promotes N signaling
Prox1	Fiber cell elongation	Pros	eq/pl CCs and pErk up regulation
FGF	Prox1 and Jag 1 expression	EGF	pros, dPox2 and Delta Expression
Notch	Pax6 expression	Notch	dPax2 expression
Wnt	Fiber cell differentiation	Wg	CC specification
Sox1	Secondary fibergenesis	SoxN
L-Mafs	Fiber cell differentiation
BMP	Fiber cell differentiation	Dpp
		BarH1	PPC differentiation
Terminal Differentiation
Pax6	α-, β- & γ-Crystollin regulation	Pax2	Drosocrystallin expression
Sox1	α- & γ- Crystatlin regulation	SoxN	(chick δ-Crystallin regulation)
Prox1	β-, γ-Crystallin regulation	Pros
L-Mafs	α-, δ- & γ-Crystollin regulation
Adhesion
E-Cad	AEL	E-cad	CCs, PPCs, IOCs
N-Cad	Differentiating lens fiber cells	N-cad	CC-specific