Buddika, K., Huang, Y.T., Ariyapala, I.S., Butrum-Griffith, A., Norrell, S.A., O'Connor, A.M., Patel, V.K., Rector, S.A., Slovan, M., Sokolowski, M., Kato, Y., Nakamura, A., Sokol, N.S. (2022). Coordinated repression of pro-differentiation genes via P-bodies and transcription maintains Drosophila intestinal stem cell identity.  Curr. Biol. 32(2): 386--397.e6.

FBrf0252504

Research paper

The role of processing bodies (P-bodies), key sites of post-transcriptional control, in adult stem cells remains poorly understood. Here, we report that adult Drosophila intestinal stem cells, but not surrounding differentiated cells such as absorptive enterocytes (ECs), harbor P-bodies that contain Drosophila orthologs of mammalian P-body components DDX6, EDC3, EDC4, and LSM14A/B. A targeted RNAi screen in intestinal progenitor cells identified 39 previously known and 64 novel P-body regulators, including Patr-1, a gene necessary for P-body assembly. Loss of Patr-1-dependent P-bodies leads to a loss of stem cells that is associated with inappropriate expression of EC-fate gene nubbin. Transcriptomic analysis of progenitor cells identifies a cadre of such weakly transcribed pro-differentiation transcripts that are elevated after P-body loss. Altogether, this study identifies a P-body-dependent repression activity that coordinates with known transcriptional repression programs to maintain a population of in vivo stem cells in a state primed for differentiation.

PMC8792327 (PMC) (EuropePMC)