Anchor maintains gut homeostasis by restricting the JNK and Notch pathways in Drosophila

Abstract

The adult Drosophila intestinal epithelium must be tightly regulated to maintain regeneration and homeostasis. The dysregulation of the regenerative capacity is frequently associated with intestinal diseases such as inflammation and tumorigenesis. Here, we showed that the G protein-coupled receptor Anchor maintains Drosophila adult midgut homeostasis by restricting Jun-N-terminal kinase (JNK) and Notch pathway activity. anchor inactivation resulted in aberrant JNK pathway activation, which led to excessive enteroblast (EB) production and premature enterocyte (EC) differentiation. In addition, increased Notch levels promoted premature EC differentiation following the loss of anchor. This defect induced by the loss of anchor ultimately caused sensitivity to stress or environmental challenge in adult flies. Taken together, our results demonstrate that the activity of anchor is essential to coordinate stem cell differentiation and proliferation to maintain intestinal homeostasis.

Keywords: Anchor; Differentiation; Drosophila; Homeostasis; Intestinal stem cells; Proliferation.