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Dr Louise Cheng

Food for thought: How the growth of Drosophila CNS is spared under Nutrient Restriction

Developing animals survive periods of starvation by protecting the growth of critical organs at the expense of other tissues. We use Drosophila to explore the, as yet unknown, mechanisms regulating this privileged tissue growth.  As in mammals, we observe in Drosophila that the CNS is more highly spared than other tissues during nutrient restriction (NR).

We demonstrate that Anaplastic Lymphoma Kinase (Alk) protects neural progenitor (neuroblast) growth against reductions in amino acids and Insulin-like peptides during NR via two mechanisms.  First, Alk suppresses the growth requirement for amino acid sensing via Slimfast/Rheb/TOR Complex 1. And second, Alk, rather than Insulin-like Receptor, primarily activates the PI3-Kinase pathway.

Alk maintains PI3-Kinase signalling during NR as its ligand, Jelly Belly (Jeb), is constitutively expressed from a glial cell niche surrounding neuroblasts. Together, these findings identify a brain sparing mechanism that shares some regulatory features with the starvation-resistant growth programmes of tumours.

Time:   10.30am  – 11.30am
Date:   Tuesday 16th August 2011
Venue: G19 Meeting Room
            Ground Floor, STRIP
            (Building 75),
            Monash University, Clayton

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