How neurons talk to the blood- sensory regulation of hematopoiesis and other Drosophila models
Event details
| Date | 22.05.2015 |
| Hour | 14:00 › 15:00 |
| Speaker | Prof. Katja Brückner |
| Location | |
| Category | Conferences - Seminars |
Genetics and the environment work together to direct the development and homeostasis of animal tissues. Using aDrosophila melanogaster model of hematopoiesis, we investigate how sensory inputs and the activation of the peripheral nervous system regulate progenitors and self-renewing blood cells. DuringDrosophila larval development, hematopoietic sites are in direct contact with sensory neuron clusters of the peripheral nervous system (PNS). Blood cells (hemocytes) functionally require the PNS for their proliferation, survival and recruitment to these microenvironments, known as Hematopoietic Pockets (HPs). We study the molecular signals that regulate this communication, their upstream sensory inputs, and long-term consequences for the adult fly. We suggest parallels with the vertebrate lineage of self-renewing tissue macrophages, whose local regulation remains enigmatic in vertebrate systems. In addition, the lab investigates blood cell homeostasis and responses in the adult fly, and how signaling pathways and their crosstalk direct cell behaviors in epithelial plasticity, using specific Drosophila cell-based models combined with RNAi screening and transcriptome analyses.
Practical information
- General public
- Free