The spen family of proteins participates in various biological processes. It is involved in neuronal cell fate, survival and axon guidance, and cell cycle regulation. Recent studies showed the Drosophila spen gene was required for Wnt-dependent signaling in the eye, wing and leg. However, the genetic role and biological function in Drosophila remain largely unclear. A Drosophila C-terminal fragment of spen was cloned and expresed in E. coli. The purified 6×His-spen protein was injected into SD rat to generate polyclonal antibodies. Subcellular localization and tissue-specific expression of spen protein were analysed by immunostaining and histoimmunochemistry. The results indicated that spen protein was localized in the nucleus and expressed at high levels in brain, fat body, hemocyte, gut and salivary gland. To assay the function of mutant hemocytes in vivo, wild-type and spen mutant larvae were infected with fluorescent microspheres. Wild-type hemocytes showed a strong fluorescence signal from the phagocytosed microspheres; however, spen mutant had a weak fluorescence signal, indicating that the mutant hemocytes were defective in the uptake of the microspheres.
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