In regenerative tissues, one of the strategies to protect stem cells from genetic aberrations,
potentially caused by frequent cell division, is to transiently expand the stem cell daughters …

Adult stem cells reside in specialized microenvironments, called niches, that maintain stem
cells in an undifferentiated and self‐renewing state. Defining and understanding the …

Soma-germline interactions play conserved essential roles in regulating cell proliferation,
differentiation, patterning and homeostasis in the gonad. In the Drosophila testis, secreted …

Stem cells rely on instructive cues from their environment. Alterations in microenvironments
might contribute to tissue dysfunction and disease pathogenesis. Germline stem cells …

Synaptic connections must be precisely controlled to ensure proper neural circuit formation.
In Drosophila melanogaster, bone morphogenetic protein (BMP) promotes growth of the …

Intrinsic mechanisms such as temporal series of transcription factors orchestrate
neurogenesis from a limited number of neural progenitors in the brain. Extrinsic regulations …

Stem-cell niche signaling is short-range in nature, such that only stem cells but not their
differentiating progeny receive self-renewing signals. At the apical tip of the Drosophila …

Tissues are maintained in a homeostatic state by balancing the constant loss of old cells
with the continued production of new cells. Tissue homeostasis can shift between high and …

A key aspect of germ cell development is to establish germline sexual identity and initiate a
sex-specific developmental program to promote spermatogenesis or oogenesis. Previously …

Background Infertility has become one of the major health problems worldwide, with its
incidence having risen markedly in recent decades. There is an urgent need to investigate …