249B Poster - 02. Immunity and the microbiome
Friday April 08, 2:00 PM - 4:00 PM

Authors:
Alexandra Chasse; Shruthi Bandyadka; Max Werthemier; Kim McCall

Affiliation: Boston University, Boston, MA

Keywords:
h. hemocytes; h. other (phagocytosis)

Regulated cell death is a key process necessary for maintenance of homeostasis and removing toxic cells from the organism and involves signaling responses among several cell types that are not well understood. Apoptosis is the best understood type of regulated cell death and once cells begin apoptosis, they produce multiple signaling cues to entice phagocytes. Macrophages are the professional phagocytes (PPs) that clear apoptotic cells in many tissues and organs, however other cells, such as tissue resident epithelial cells, act as non-professional phagocytes (NPPs). While there has been extensive research on mechanisms used to engulf dying cells for both PPs and NPPs, there is little research done to identify mechanisms used for communication. The Drosophila ovary is a powerful model for cell death mechanisms despite being “immune-privileged” meaning that the ovary is protected from an uncontrolled immune response by denying hemocytes access to the organ. However small numbers of hemocytes have been detected in the ovary and previous work has shown that the cytokine Unpaired 3 (Upd3, IL-6 like) is highly expressed in NPP Follicle Cells (FCs) during engulfment of apoptotic Nurse Cells (NCs) but is not required for engulfment. Another pro-inflammatory cytokine, Eiger (TNF-like), was shown to be required for cell clearance but it was not determined whether it is required by the FCs or the NCs. Further, the fate of follicle cells after engulfing nurse cells is still unknown. We are characterizing the response of hemocytes when cell death is induced in the ovary as well as investigating the signaling pathways used by professional and non-professional phagocytes to maintain homeostasis during the complete removal of dying cells.