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Originally published in Science Express on 19 February 2004
Science 26 March 2004:
Vol. 303. no. 5666, pp. 2016 - 2019
DOI: 10.1126/science.1093983
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Reports

Nanos Maintains Germline Stem Cell Self-Renewal by Preventing Differentiation

Zhong Wang and Haifan Lin*

Despite much progress in understanding how extrinsic signaling regulates stem cell self-renewal, little is known about how cell-autonomous gene regulation controls this process. In Drosophila ovaries, germline stem cells (GSCs) divide asymmetrically to produce daughter GSCs and cystoblasts, the latter of which develop into germline cysts. Here, we show that removing the translational repressor Nanos from either GSCs or their precursors, the primordial germ cells (PGCs), causes both cell types to differentiate into germline cysts. Thus, Nanos is essential for both establishing and maintaining GSCs by preventing their precocious entry into oogenesis. These functions are likely achieved by repressing the translation of differentiation factors in PGCs and GSCs.

Department of Cell Biology, Duke University Medical School, Durham, NC 27710, USA.

* To whom correspondence should be addressed. E-mail: h.lin{at}cellbio.duke.edu

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THIS ARTICLE HAS BEEN CITED BY OTHER ARTICLES:
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