Regulation of Drosophila hematopoietic sites by Activin-β from active sensory neurons

Kalpana Makhijani, Brandy Alexander, Deepti Rao, Sophia Petraki, Leire Herboso, Katelyn Kukar, Itrat Batool, Stephanie Wachner, Katrina S. Gold, Corinna Wong, Michael B. O'Connor, Katja Brückner

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Abstract

An outstanding question in animal development, tissue homeostasis and disease is how cell populations adapt to sensory inputs. During Drosophila larval development, hematopoietic sites are in direct contact with sensory neuron clusters of the peripheral nervous system (PNS), and blood cells (hemocytes) require the PNS for their survival and recruitment to these microenvironments, known as Hematopoietic Pockets. Here we report that Activin-β, a TGF-β family ligand, is expressed by sensory neurons of the PNS and regulates the proliferation and adhesion of hemocytes. These hemocyte responses depend on PNS activity, as shown by agonist treatment and transient silencing of sensory neurons. Activin-β has a key role in this regulation, which is apparent from reporter expression and mutant analyses. This mechanism of local sensory neurons controlling blood cell adaptation invites evolutionary parallels with vertebrate hematopoietic progenitors and the independent myeloid system of tissue macrophages, whose regulation by local microenvironments remain undefined.

Original languageEnglish (US)
Article number15990
JournalNature communications
Volume8
DOIs
StatePublished - Jul 27 2017

Bibliographical note

Funding Information:
This work was supported by grants from the UCSF Program for Breakthrough Biomedical Research (PBBR), Broad Center, Hellman Foundation, American Cancer Society RSG DDC-122595, American Heart Association 13BGIA13730001, National Science Foundation 1326268, National Institutes of Health 1R01GM112083-01 and 1R56HL118726-01A1 (to K.B.).

Publisher Copyright:
© 2017 The Author(s).

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