Lola regulates Drosophila adult midgut homeostasis via non-canonical Hippo signaling

In a recent study published online in eLife on January 14, a research group led by Prof. ZHANG Lei at the CAS Center for Excellence in Molecular Cell Science (Shanghai Institute of Biochemistry and Cell Biology) of the Chinese Academy of Sciences reported the role of the transcription factor Lola in Drosophila adult midgut homeostasis maintenance.

Tissue homeostasis and regeneration in the Drosophila midgut is regulated by a diverse array of signaling pathways including the Hippo pathway. The role of canonical Hippo signaling in restricting intestinal stem cell (ISC) proliferation is well established, but whether and how the non-canonical Hippo signaling is involved in ISC basal proliferation is less well-defined.

This study identifies Lola as a transcription factor acting downstream of Hippo signaling to restrict ISC proliferation in a Yki-independent manner. Not only that Lola interacts with and is stabilized by the Hippo signaling pathway core kinase Warts (Wts), Lola rescues the enhanced ISC proliferation upon Wts depletion via suppressing Dref and SkpA expression. These findings reveal that Lola is a non-canonical Hippo signaling component in regulating midgut homeostasis, providing insights on the mechanism of tissue maintenance and intestinal function, and add to the current knowledge of non-canonical Hippo signaling.

HAO Xue and colleagues from the research group led by Prof. ZHANG Lei and Prof. Margaret S. Ho completed this work. The work was financially supported by National Key Research and Development Program of China, National Natural Science Foundation of China, “Strategic Priority Research Program” of the Chinese Academy of Sciences, and Shanghai Program.

 

Contact: rayzhang@sibcb.ac.cn.