USF-LVHN SELECT
Maintenance of niche architecture requires actomyosin and enables proper stem cell signaling and oriented division in the Drosophila testis.
Publication/Presentation Date
12-2-2024
Abstract
Stem cells are critical to repair and regenerate tissues, and often reside in a niche that controls their behavior. Here we use the Drosophila testis niche, a paradigm for niche-stem cell interactions, to address the cell biological features that maintain niche structure and function during its steady-state operation. We report enrichment of the Myosin II (MyoII) and a key regulator of acto-myosin contractility (AMC), Rho Kinase (ROK), within the niche cell cortex at the interface with germline stem cells (GSCs). Compromising MyoII and ROK disrupts niche architecture, suggesting that AMC in niche cells is important to maintain its reproducible structure. Furthermore, defects in niche architecture disrupt GSC function. Our data suggest that the niche signals less robustly to adjacent germ cells yet permits increased numbers of cells to respond to the signal. Finally, compromising MyoII in niche cells leads to increased mis-orientation of centrosomes in GSCs as well as defects in the centrosome orientation checkpoint. Ultimately, this work identifies a critical role for AMC-dependent maintenance of niche structure to ensure a proper complement of stem cells that correctly execute divisions.
ISSN
1477-9129
Published In/Presented At
Vida, G. S., Botto, E., & DiNardo, S. (2024). Maintenance of niche architecture requires actomyosin and enables proper stem cell signaling and oriented division in the Drosophila testis. Development (Cambridge, England), dev.204498. Advance online publication. https://doi.org/10.1242/dev.204498
Disciplines
Medical Education | Medicine and Health Sciences
PubMedID
39620974
Department(s)
USF-LVHN SELECT Program, USF-LVHN SELECT Program Students
Document Type
Article