A Niche Maintaining Germ Line Stem Cells

[Rcjohnsen]

Development   

A Niche Maintaining Germ Line Stem Cells in the Drosophila Ovary 

Ting Xie,* Allan C. Spradling  
Stromal cells are thought to generate specific regulatory microenviroments or
"niches" that control stem cell behavior. Characterizing stem cell niches in
vivo remains an important goal that has been difficult to achieve. The
individual ovarioles of the Drosophila ovary each contain about two germ line
stem cells that maintain oocyte production. Here we show that anterior
ovariolar somatic cells comprising three cell types act as a germ line stem
cell niche. Germ line stem cells lost by normal or induced differentiation are
efficiently replaced, and the ability to repopulate the niche increases the
functional lifetime of ovarioles in vivo. Our studies implicate one of the
somatic cell types, the cap cells, as a key niche component. 
Department of Embryology, Howard Hughes Medical Institute, Carnegie Institution
of Washington, 115 West University Parkway, Baltimore, MD 21210, USA. 
E-mail: tgx at stowers-institute.org; spradling at mail1.ciwemb.edu 
*   Present address: Stowers Institute for Medical Research, 1000 East 50th
Street, Kansas City, MO 64110, USA.  

Science Oct 13 2000: 328-330

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