The steroid hormone ecdysone functions with intrinsic chromatin remodeling factors to control female germline stem cells in Drosophila.
Steroid hormones are known systemic regulators of multiple normal and cancerous tissues; however, whether or how they impact the fate and function of adult stem cells is unclear. In the Drosophila ovary, insulin signals modulate the proliferation and self-renewal of germline stem cells (GSCs), yet despite evidence that additional systemic factors control GSC activity, these have remained largely unknown. Here, we report that ecdysone, a steroid hormone structurally related to mammalian sex steroids, directly regulates adult GSC proliferation and self-renewal independently of insulin signaling. Ecdysone controls GSCs through a functional interaction with the chromatin remodeling factors ISWI, an intrinsic epigenetic factor required for GSC fate and activity, and Nurf301, the largest subunit of the ISWI-containing NURF chromatin remodeling complex. Our findings support a link between systemic steroid hormones and the intrinsic chromatin remodeling machinery as a potential mechanism to promote broad transcriptional programs required for adult stem cell self-renewal.
Department of Cell and Developmental Biology, Vanderbilt University Medical Center, Nashville, TN, 37232, USA.
Elizabeth T
ET
Ables
Daniela
D
Drummond-Barbosa
D000818:Animals; D002453:Cell Cycle / Q000502:physiology; D049109:Cell Proliferation; D002478:Cells, Cultured; D042002:Chromatin Assembly and Disassembly / Q000235:genetics*; D004330:Drosophila; D004440:Ecdysone / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism* / Q000494:pharmacology*; D005260:Female; D005455:Fluorescent Antibody Technique; D005854:Germ Cells / Q000166:cytology / Q000378:metabolism*; D015398:Signal Transduction; D013234:Stem Cells / Q000166:cytology / Q000378:metabolism*
D004440:Ecdysone