Department of Biology, East Carolina University, Greenville, NC 27858, USA.
G3 (Bethesda). 2021 Feb 9;11(2). doi: 10.1093/g3journal/jkab003.
Gamete production in mammals and insects is controlled by cell signaling pathways that facilitate communication between germ cells and somatic cells. Nuclear receptor signaling is a key mediator of many aspects of reproduction, including gametogenesis. For example, the NR5A subfamily of nuclear receptors is essential for gonad development and sex steroid production in mammals. Despite the original identification of the NR5A subfamily in the model insect Drosophila melanogaster, it has been unclear whether Drosophila NR5A receptors directly control oocyte production. Ftz-f1 is expressed throughout the ovary, including in germline stem cells, germline cysts, and several populations of somatic cells. We show that ftz-f1 is required in follicle cells prior to stage 10 to promote egg chamber survival at the mid-oogenesis checkpoint. Our data suggest that egg chamber death in the absence of ftz-f1 is due, at least in part, to failure of follicle cells to exit the mitotic cell cycle or failure to accumulate oocyte-specific factors in the germline. Taken together, these results show that, as in mammals, the NR5A subfamily promotes maximal reproductive output in Drosophila. Our data underscore the importance of nuclear receptors in the control of reproduction and highlight the utility of Drosophila oogenesis as a key model for unraveling the complexity of nuclear receptor signaling in gametogenesis.
哺乳动物和昆虫的配子发生受细胞信号通路控制，这些信号通路促进生殖细胞和体细胞之间的通讯。核受体信号是许多生殖方面的关键调节剂，包括配子发生。例如，核受体 NR5A 亚家族对于哺乳动物的性腺发育和性激素产生是必不可少的。尽管 NR5A 亚家族在模式昆虫黑腹果蝇中最初被鉴定出来，但尚不清楚果蝇 NR5A 受体是否直接控制卵母细胞的产生。Ftz-f1 在整个卵巢中表达，包括生殖干细胞、生殖细胞囊和几个体细胞群。我们表明，在阶段 10 之前，滤泡细胞中需要 ftz-f1 来促进卵室在减数分裂中期检查点的存活。我们的数据表明，在没有 ftz-f1 的情况下卵室死亡至少部分是由于滤泡细胞未能退出有丝分裂细胞周期或未能在生殖系中积累卵母细胞特异性因子。总之，这些结果表明，与哺乳动物一样，NR5A 亚家族促进了果蝇的最大生殖输出。我们的数据强调了核受体在生殖控制中的重要性，并突出了利用果蝇卵发生作为揭示核受体信号在配子发生中复杂性的关键模型的重要性。
