Deciphering the hematopoietic niche: a model study in Drosophila
Event details
| Date | 14.06.2013 |
| Hour | 11:00 › 12:00 |
| Speaker | Michèle CROZATIER |
| Location | |
| Category | Conferences - Seminars |
Vertebrate Hematopoietic Stem Cells (HSCs) are responsible for lifelong maintenance of blood cells. Deregulation of hematopoiesis is at the origin of numerous pathologies including leukemia. Maintaining HSCs depends on signals provided by their micro-environment called the « niche ». The cellular and molecular communications between HSCs and their niche is very complex. The discovery of a niche, called the Posterior Signaling Center (PSC), responsible for maintaining a pool of hematopoietic progenitors in the Drosophila hematopoietic organ, the lymph gland (LG), has made Drosophila a model to investigate the formation and function of a hematopoietic niche in vivo. In addition to the PSC, the LG consists of a medullary zone (MZ) and a cortical zone (CZ), which contain progenitors and differentiated hemocytes (blood cells), respectively. A specific type of hemocyte, called lamellocyte, is devoted to encapsulation of foreign bodies too large to be phagocytised, and differentiates only under specific conditions such as wasp parasitism. Under physiological conditions, the number of niche cells is tightly controlled by Dpp/BMP and Robo/Slit signaling pathways to maintain blood cell homeostasis. New insights into the regulatory networks that link niche size and hemocyte homeostasis and parallels between Drosophila and mammalian hematopoiesis will be discussed.
Practical information
- Informed public
- Free
Organizer
- Bruno LEMAITRE
Contact
- Bruno LEMAITRE