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Drosophila glypicans regulate the germline stem cell niche
Correspondence to Hiroshi Nakato: nakat003{at}umn.edu
Stem cells are maintained in vivo by short-range signaling systems in specialized microenvironments called niches, but the molecular mechanisms controlling the physical space of the stem cell niche are poorly understood. In this study, we report that heparan sulfate (HS) proteoglycans (HSPGs) are essential regulators of the germline stem cell (GSC) niches in the Drosophila melanogaster gonads. GSCs were lost in both male and female gonads of mutants deficient for HS biosynthesis. dally, a Drosophila glypican, is expressed in the female GSC niche cells and is responsible for maintaining the GSC niche. Ectopic expression of dally in the ovary expanded the niche area, showing that dally is required for restriction of the GSC niche space. Interestingly, the other glypican, dally-like, plays a major role in regulating male GSC niche maintenance. We propose that HSPGs define the physical space of the niche by serving as trans coreceptors, mediating short-range signaling by secreted factors.
Abbreviations used in this paper: Bam, bag of marbles; BMP, bone morphogenetic protein; Dlp, Dally-like; Dpp, decapentaplegic; E-Cad, epithelial cadherin; FasIII, fasciclin III; Gbb, Glass-bottom boat; GSC, germline stem cell; HS, heparan sulfate; HSPG, HS proteoglycan; Hts, Hu-li tai shao; JAK/STAT, Janus kinase/signal transducers and activators of transcription; PGC, primordial germ cell; sfl, sulfateless; ttv, tout-velu; UAS, upstream activation sequence; Upd, Unpaired; Vas, Vasa.
© 2009 Hayashi et al.
This article is distributed under the terms of an Attribution–Noncommercial–Share Alike–No Mirror Sites license for the first six months after the publication date (see http://www.jcb.org/misc/terms.shtml). After six months it is available under a Creative Commons License (Attribution–Noncommercial–Share Alike 3.0 Unported license, as described at http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/3.0/).
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