title: Hedgehog signaling establishes precursors for germline stem cell niches by regulating cell adhesion.
abstract: Stem cells require different types of supporting cells, or niches, to control stem cell maintenance and differentiation. However, little is known about how those niches are formed. We report that in the development of theDrosophila melanogasterovary, the Hedgehog (Hh) gradient sets differential cell affinity for somatic gonadal precursors to specify stromal intermingled cells, which contributes to both germline stem cell maintenance and differentiation niches in the adult. We also report that Traffic Jam (an orthologue of a large Maf transcription factor in mammals) is a novel transcriptional target of Hh signaling to control cell-cell adhesion by negative regulation of E-cadherin expression. Our results demonstrate the role of Hh signaling in niche establishment by segregating somatic cell lineages for differentiation.
authors.affiliation: Molecular and Biological Agricultural Sciences Program, Taiwan International Graduate Program, Academia Sinica and National Chung-Hsing University, Taipei 11529, Taiwan.|Graduate Institute of Biotechnology, National Chung-Hsing University, Taichung 40227, Taiwan.|Institute of Cellular and Organismic Biology, Academia Sinica, Taipei 11529, Taiwan.
authors.forename: Chun-Ming
authors.identifier: 0000-0003-2196-926X
authors.initials: CM
authors.lastname: Lai
authors.affiliation: Molecular and Biological Agricultural Sciences Program, Taiwan International Graduate Program, Academia Sinica and National Chung-Hsing University, Taipei 11529, Taiwan.|Graduate Institute of Biotechnology, National Chung-Hsing University, Taichung 40227, Taiwan.|Institute of Cellular and Organismic Biology, Academia Sinica, Taipei 11529, Taiwan.
authors.forename: Kun-Yang
authors.initials: KY
authors.lastname: Lin
authors.affiliation: Institute of Cellular and Organismic Biology, Academia Sinica, Taipei 11529, Taiwan.
authors.forename: Shih-Han
authors.initials: SH
authors.lastname: Kao
authors.affiliation: Institute of Molecular and Cell Biology, Academia Sinica, Taipei 11529, Taiwan.
authors.forename: Yi-Ning
authors.identifier: 0000-0002-5671-2969
authors.initials: YN
authors.lastname: Chen
authors.affiliation: Institute of Biological Chemistry, Academia Sinica, Taipei 11529, Taiwan.
authors.forename: Fu
authors.identifier: 0000-0001-9549-8937
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Huang
authors.affiliation: Molecular and Biological Agricultural Sciences Program, Taiwan International Graduate Program, Academia Sinica and National Chung-Hsing University, Taipei 11529, Taiwan cohsu@gate.sinica.edu.tw.|Biotechnology Center, National Chung-Hsing University, Taichung 40227, Taiwan.|Institute of Cellular and Organismic Biology, Academia Sinica, Taipei 11529, Taiwan.
authors.forename: Hwei-Jan
authors.identifier: 0000-0001-7892-2310
authors.initials: HJ
authors.lastname: Hsu
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D002448:Cell Adhesion; D004331:Drosophila melanogaster; D005260:Female; D005854:Germ Cells / Q000378:metabolism*; D053823:Hedgehog Proteins / Q000378:metabolism*; D010053:Ovary / Q000166:cytology / Q000378:metabolism; D015398:Signal Transduction; D055153:Stem Cell Niche
chemical_list: D053823:Hedgehog Proteins