Distinct signaling signatures drive compensatory proliferation via S-phase acceleration

Author summary Regeneration requires high levels of cell proliferation to restore the physiological function a damaged tissue. This can either be achieved by allowing more cells to enter the cell cycle, or by accelerating cell cycle progression. In addition, the spatio-temporal dynamics of proliferation need to account for differences in the types and degree of damage. How different tissue damage environments, proliferative signals and cell cycle controls are integrated to drive tissue regeneration is little understood. We address this open question in regenerating Drosophila imaginal discs. We demonstrate that inflammatory and non-inflammatory damage activate distinct proliferative signaling pathways, which accelerate cell cycle progression via reducing gap phase length. Despite the risk of inducing replicative stress and compromising genome integrity, we find that nucleotide incorporation during DNA replication is strongly and safely accelerated, thereby also reducing S-phases length. Our work thus provides an unprecedented perspective on the convergence of different damage and signaling environments on the same regenerative cell cycle program.

Bilateral JNK activation is a hallmark of interface surveillance and promotes elimination of aberrant cells

CIBSS Symposium 2023

Drosophila pVALIUM10 TRiP RNAi lines cause undesired silencing of Gateway-based transgenes

Post-transcriptional gene silencing using double-stranded RNA has revolutionized the field of functional genetics, allowing fast and easy disruption of gene function in various organisms. In Drosophila , many transgenic RNAi lines have been generated in large-scale efforts, including the Drosophila Transgenic RNAi Project (TRiP), to facilitate in vivo knockdown of virtually any Drosophila gene with spatial and temporal resolution. The available transgenic RNAi lines represent a fundamental resource for the fly community, providing an unprecedented opportunity to address a vast range of biological questions relevant to basic and biomedical research fields. However, caution should be applied regarding the efficiency and specificity of the RNAi approach. Here, we demonstrate that pVALIUM10-based RNAi lines, representing ∼13% of the total TRiP collection (1,808 of 13,410 pVALIUM TRiP–based RNAi lines), cause unintended off-target silencing of transgenes expressed from Gateway destination vectors. The silencing is mediated by targeting attB1 and attB2 sequences generated via site-specific recombination and included in the transcribed mRNA. Deleting these attB sites from the Gateway expression vector prevents silencing and restores expected transgene expression.

Conservation of oocyte development in germline cysts from Drosophila to mouse - PubMed

Recent studies show that pre-follicular mouse oogenesis takes place in germline cysts, highly conserved groups of oogonial cells connected by intercellular bridges that develop as nurse cells as well as an oocyte. Long studied in <i>Drosophila</i> and insect gametogenesis, female germline cysts acqu …

Jobs – Plant Cell Biology