Antioxidant Role for Lipid Droplets in a Stem Cell Niche of Drosophila

Stem cells reside in specialized microenvironments known as niches. During Drosophila development, glial cells provide a niche that sustains the proliferation of neural stem cells (neuroblasts) during starvation. We now find that the glial cell niche also preserves neuroblast proliferation under conditions of hypoxia and oxidative stress. Lipid droplets that form in niche glia during oxidative stress limit the levels of reactive oxygen species (ROS) and inhibit the oxidation of polyunsaturated fatty acids (PUFAs). These droplets protect glia and also neuroblasts from peroxidation chain reactions that can damage many types of macromolecules. The underlying antioxidant mechanism involves diverting PUFAs,…

• EM
  Ellison Medical Foundation

  Award: AG-SS-2215-08
• WT
  Wellcome Trust
• FC
  Francis Crick Institute
• CR
  Cancer Research UK
• NI
  National Institute for Health and Care Research
• NI
  National Institutes of Health

  Awards: NIH P40OD018537, P40OD018537
• MR
  Medical Research Council

  Award: U117584237
• NI
  National Institute of Biomedical Imaging and Bioengineering