Elsevier

Developmental Biology

Volume 409, Issue 2, 15 January 2016, Pages 343-353
Developmental Biology

From the Society for Developmental Biology
eyeless/Pax6 controls the production of glial cells in the visual center of Drosophila melanogaster

https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ydbio.2015.12.004Get rights and content
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Highlights

  • eyeless is essential for astrocyte-like glial cell production in the fly optic lobe.

  • eyeless is widely expressed in neuroblasts to autonomously control gliogenesis.

  • Neuron-specific overexpression of eyeless also causes increase in glial cells.

  • Pax6/eyeless-dependent control of gliogenesis may be evolutionally conserved.

Abstract

Pax6 is known as a neurogenic factor in the development of the central nervous system and regulates proliferation of neuronal progenitor cells and promotes neuronal differentiation. In addition to neurogenesis, Pax6 is also involved in the specification and maturation of glial cells. Here, we show that Eyeless (Ey), Drosophila homolog of Pax6, regulates the production of glial cells in the brain. In the developing fly visual center, the production of neurons and glial cells are controlled by the temporal transcription factors that are sequentially expressed in neuroblasts (NBs). Among them, NBs of the last temporal window produce astrocyte-like glial cells. Ey is strongly expressed in the middle aged NBs, whose temporal window is earlier compared with glia producing older NBs. Weak Ey expression is also detected in the glia producing NBs. Our results suggest that Ey expression in the middle aged NBs indirectly control gliogenesis from the oldest NBs by regulating other temporal transcription factors. Additionally, weak Ey expression in the NBs of last temporal window may directly control gliogenesis. Ey is also expressed in neurons produced from the NBs of Ey-positive temporal window. Interestingly, neuron-specific overexpression of Ey causes significant increase in glial cells suggesting that neuronal expression of Ey may also contribute to gliogenesis. Thus, Pax6-dependent regulation of astrocyte-like glial development is conserved throughout the animal kingdom.

Keywords

Eyeless/Pax6
Drosophila
Glia
Gliogenesis
Neuronal stem cells
Optic lobe

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