Cell lineage tracing reveals the plasticity of the hemocyte lineages and of the hematopoietic compartments in Drosophila melanogaster

Abstract

Title: Cell lineage tracing reveals the plasticity of the hemocyte lineages and of the hematopoietic compartments in Drosophila melanogaster. Drosophila is a result of a precisely regulated succession of intracellular and intercellular events, though the nature and extent of these interactions are not known. We describe here a cell lineage tracing system set up to analyze the development of hemocyte lineages and functionally distinct hemocyte subsets. This system allowed us to distinguish two major embryonic hemocyte lineages, the crq and Dot lineages, in two, physically separated compartments, the embryonic macrophages and the embryonic lymph gland. We followed the fate and development of these lineages in the construction of the larval hematopoietic compartments and during the cell mediated immune response, the encapsulation reaction. Our results revealed the considerable plasticity and concerted action of the hematopoietic compartments and the hemocyte lineages in the development of the innate immune system and in the course of the cell mediated immune response in Drosophila. Journal: Molecular Immunology

Structural and functional characterization of pseudopodocyte, a shaggy immune cell produced by two Drosophila species of the obscura group

“…Many studies established that plasmatocytes and lamellocytes follow specific differentiation pathways (Lanot et al, 2001;Sorrentino et al, 2002Sorrentino et al, , 2004Meister, 2004;Crozatier et al, 2004;Krzemień et al, 2007). However, recent works on Drosophila hemocytes lineage showed that plasmatocytes could indeed differentiate into lamellocytes (Honti et al, 2010;Avet-Rochex et al, 2010;Stofanko et al, 2010). Despite lamellocytes having long been considered the major hemocyte type forming the bulk of capsules in Drosophila (Brehélin and Duvic, 1999), we have shown that not all Drosophila species actually possess this cell type (Eslin and Doury, 2006;Eslin et al, 2009;Havard et al, 2009).…”

“…Cell lineage analysis demonstrated that embryo-derived plasmatocytes can differentiate into lamellocytes in response to a genetic mutation (Avet-Rochex et al, 2010). Honti et al, 2010 also observed hemocytes with a phagocytic ability expressing lamellocytes markers. More remarkably their study on immunocytes' development showed that hemocytes fate involves a multilineage origin and S. Havard et al / Developmental and Comparative Immunology xxx (2011) xxx-xxx 5 far more plasticity than originally suspected.…”

An Unexpected Link Between Notch Signaling and ROS in Restricting the Differentiation of Hematopoietic Progenitors in Drosophila

“…Recent studies have uncovered unexpected plasticity in hematopoietic development (Avet-Rochex et al 2010;Honti et al 2010;Stofanko et al 2010;Kroeger et al 2012). Wasp infection induces proliferation and lamellocyte differentiation (Sorrentino et al 2002;Krzemien et al 2010b), but infection reduces the abundance of crystal cells (Krzemien et al 2010b).…”

Serpent, Suppressor of Hairless and U-shaped are crucial regulators of hedgehog niche expression and prohemocyte maintenance during Drosophila larval hematopoiesis

“…Together, they number ~700 cells by the end of embryogenesis and persist into larval stages, when they undergo multiple rounds of mitosis, generating 6000-8000 hemocytes by the end of larval development Tokusumi et al, 2009b). A subpopulation of these cells will take up residence as sessile hemocytes in subepidermal locations within larvae, where they can be rapidly converted into lamellocytes, a third hemocyte type that is produced in response to wasp infestation (Markus et al, 2009;Honti et al, 2010). Lamellocytes are large, flat, adhesive cells that are crucial for the successful encapsulation of invasive species, such as the parasitic wasp egg.…”