The maintenance of stem cells is central to generating diverse cell populations in many tissues throughout the life of an animal. Elucidating the mechanisms involved in how stem cells are formed and maintained is crucial to understanding both normal developmental processes and the growth of many cancers. Previously, we showed that Zfrp8/PDCD2 is essential for the maintenance of Drosophila hematopoietic stem cells. Here, we show that Zfrp8/PDCD2 is also required in both germline and follicle stem cells in the Drosophila ovary. Expression of human PDCD2 fully rescues the Zfrp8 phenotype, underlining the functional conservation of Zfrp8/PDCD2. The piRNA pathway is essential in early oogenesis, and we find that nuclear localization of Zfrp8 in germline stem cells and their offspring is regulated by some piRNA pathway genes. We also show that Zfrp8 forms a complex with the piRNA pathway protein Maelstrom and controls the accumulation of Maelstrom in the nuage. Furthermore, Zfrp8 regulates the activity of specific transposable elements also controlled by Maelstrom and Piwi. Our results suggest that Zfrp8/PDCD2 is not an integral member of the piRNA pathway, but has an overlapping function, possibly competing with Maelstrom and Piwi.
KEY WORDS: Somatic stem cells, Germline stem cells, piRNA pathway, Drosophila
INTRODUCTIONGene expression in multicellular organisms is regulated at many levels. Complex transcriptional control is followed by processing, transport and translation of all mRNAs. Small RNAs function in all of these steps by guiding the regulatory protein complexes to specific RNA and DNA targets. One class of small RNAs is the repeat-associated small interfering RNAs (rasi-RNAs) or, more commonly, Piwi-interacting RNAs (piRNAs) (Saito et al., 2006;Vagin et al., 2006; Brennecke et al., 2007). These 23-31 nt small RNAs are produced by Dicer-independent mechanisms and associate with Piwi family Argonaute (AGO) proteins. Both RNAs and protein components of the piRNA pathway are most abundantly expressed in the gonads of all animals, but recent studies suggest that the pathway may similarly function in other somatic stem and progenitor cells (reviewed by Juliano et al., 2011;Siddiqi and Matushansky, 2012;Mani and Juliano, 2013;Peng and Lin, 2013).Much of the progress in understanding piRNA pathway mechanisms comes from Drosophila ovaries, where piRNAs suppress the activity of transposable elements (TEs) and protect genome integrity during germ stem cell (GSC) differentiation and oocyte development (reviewed by Siomi et al., 2011;Guzzardo et al., 2013;Peng and Lin, 2013). Different sets of TEs are active in the ovarian germline and surrounding somatic cells and are regulated by piRNA mechanisms that partially overlap (Malone et al., 2009). The pathway used in the somatic cells is called the primary piRNA processing pathway. The primary single-stranded RNAs are transcribed from piRNA clusters and exported into the cytoplasm. Their maturation requires the RNA helicase Armitage (Armi) (Klattenhoff et al., 2007...