Global Health Institute, School of Life Sciences, Station 19, EPFL, 1015 Lausanne, Switzerland.
Cell Rep. 2013 May 30;3(5):1725-38. doi: 10.1016/j.celrep.2013.04.001. Epub 2013 May 2.
Although the gut is a central organ of Eumetazoans and is essential for organismal health, our understanding of its morphological and molecular determinants remains rudimentary. Here, we provide a comprehensive atlas of Drosophila adult midgut. Specifically, we uncover a fine-grained regional organization consisting of 14 subregions with distinct morphological, histological, and genetic properties. We also show that Drosophila intestinal regionalization is defined after adult emergence, remains stable throughout life, and reestablishes following acute tissue damage. Additionally, we show that this midgut compartmentalization is achieved through the interplay between pan-midgut and regionalized transcription factors, in concert with spatial activities of morphogens. Interestingly, disruption of the midgut compartmentalization leads to a loss of intestinal homeostasis characterized by an increase in stem cell proliferation and aberrant immune responses. Our integrative analysis of Drosophila midgut compartmentalization provides insights into the conserved mechanisms underlying intestinal regionalization in metazoans.
尽管肠道是后生动物的一个中心器官，对生物体的健康至关重要，但我们对其形态和分子决定因素的理解仍然很初步。在这里，我们提供了一个全面的果蝇成年肠道图谱。具体来说，我们揭示了一个精细的区域组织，由 14 个具有不同形态、组织学和遗传特性的亚区组成。我们还表明，果蝇肠道的区域性是在成虫出现后确定的，在整个生命周期中保持稳定，并在急性组织损伤后重新建立。此外，我们表明，这种肠道的分区是通过泛肠和区域化转录因子之间的相互作用以及形态发生素的空间活性来实现的。有趣的是，破坏肠道的分区会导致肠道失去稳态，其特征是干细胞增殖增加和免疫反应异常。我们对果蝇肠道分区的综合分析为后生动物肠道区域化的保守机制提供了深入了解。
