Non-autonomous regulation of neurogenesis by extrinsic cues: aDrosophilaperspective

Abstract

The formation of a functional circuitry in the central nervous system (CNS) requires the correct number and subtypes of neural cells. In the developing brain, neural stem cells (NSCs) self-renew while giving rise to progenitors that in turn generate differentiated progeny. As such, the size and the diversity of cells that make up the functional CNS depend on the proliferative properties of NSCs. In the fruit fly Drosophila, where the process of neurogenesis has been extensively investigated, extrinsic factors such as the microenvironment of NSCs, nutrients, oxygen levels and systemic signals have been identified as regulators of NSC proliferation. Here, we review decades of work that explores how extrinsic signals non-autonomously regulate key NSC characteristics such as quiescence, proliferation and termination in the fly.

Drosophila Bchsoverexpression recapitulates humanWDFY3neurodevelopmental phenotypes with implications for glial cell involvement in altered head circumference

“…This gain could have been caused similarly by increased proliferation of Drosophila neural stem cells (neuroblasts), intermediate progenitor cells or glial cells. It is well known that glial cells can regulate neuroblast proliferation (Contreras et al 2021;Kanai et al 2018;Nguyen & Cheng 2022;Yang et al 2021). However, reduced glial cell death could also have provoked the cell number increase.…”