The regulation mechanisms of gremlin stem cell niche establishment in Drosophila ovary.

2015 Fiscal Year Final Research Report

• Project/Area Number: 25440119
• Research Category: Grant-in-Aid for Scientific Research (C)
• Allocation Type: Multi-year Fund
• Section: 一般
• Research Field: Developmental biology
• Research Institution: University of Tsukuba (2015); Okazaki Research Facilities, National Institutes of Natural Sciences (2014); National Institute of Genetics (2013)
• Principal Investigator: ASAOKA Miho 筑波大学, 生命領域学際研究センター, 研究員 (40370118)
• Project Period (FY): 2013-04-01 – 2016-03-31
• Keywords: 生殖幹細胞 / 幹細胞ニッチ / ショウジョウバエ / 卵巣

Outline of Final Research Achievements

Stem cells play a central role in maintenance and repair of the adult tissues in many organisms. To prevent tissue disorganization and hyperplasia, the number of stem cells must be tightly regulated in the normal tissues. In many tissues, stem cell numbers are determined depending on the number of surrounding supporting cells called as "niche cells". However, it remains elusive how niche cell number is restricted, as well as process of the niche cell formation itself.
In this study, we focused on a niche cell in the Drosophila ovary, called as "cap cell", as a model, whose number determines the number of germ line stem cells in one ovary. We developed a novel in vitro culture system of developing ovary, and performed live imaging analyses to follow the process of cap cell formation, and determined the precursors of cap cells. Moreover, we show that a member of receptor tyrosine kinase family, expressing in the precursors, is essential for the restriction of the cap cell number.

Free Research Field

発生生物学