2010 December

Fly gut remodeling on bacterial infection depends on JAK-STAT as well as EGFR signaling

Restoration of normal gut morphology following bacterial infection in Drosophila is coordinated by activation of the epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR) by ligand produced by surrounding visceral muscle cells (actin-rich cells stained red with phalloidin). This requires activation of the JAK-STAT pathway, which in the absence of infection is active only in intestinal stem cells (ISCs: green: from a STAT-GFP reporter transgene). Activation of the JAK-STAT pathway in visceral muscle cells induces the production of EGFR ligands which activate the proliferation of ISCs as well as inducing changes in other cells required for remodeling. Nuclei (blue) from cells on the basal surface of the gut are visualized with DAPI.

Taken from: Bruno Lemaitre et al., 2010, BMC Biology [View article]

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