Graduate School of Life Sciences, Tohoku University, Sendai, Japan
Takayuki Kuraishi
Faculty of Pharmacy, Institute of Medical, Pharmaceutical and Health Sciences, Kanazawa University, Kanazawa, Japan; AMED-PRIME, Japan Agency for Medical Research and Development, Tokyo, Japan
Life Science Center for Survival Dynamics, Tsukuba Advanced Research Alliance (TARA), University of Tsukuba, Tsukuba, Japan; AMED-CREST, Japan Agency for Medical Research and Development, Tokyo, Japan
Stem cells fuel the development and maintenance of tissues. Many studies have addressed how local signals from neighboring niche cells regulate stem cell identity and their proliferative potential. However, the regulation of stem cells by tissue-extrinsic signals in response to environmental cues remains poorly understood. Here we report that efferent octopaminergic neurons projecting to the ovary are essential for germline stem cell (GSC) increase in response to mating in female Drosophila. The neuronal activity of the octopaminergic neurons is required for mating-induced GSC increase as they relay the mating signal from sex peptide receptor-positive cholinergic neurons. Octopamine and its receptor Oamb are also required for mating-induced GSC increase via intracellular Ca2+ signaling. Moreover, we identified Matrix metalloproteinase-2 as a downstream component of the octopamine-Ca2+ signaling to induce GSC increase. Our study provides a mechanism describing how neuronal system couples stem cell behavior to environmental cues through stem cell niche signaling.
