Abstract
Adult neurogenesis has been linked to several cognitive functions and neurological disorders. Description of adult neurogenesis in a model organism like Drosophila could facilitate the genetic study of normal and abnormal neurogenesis in the adult brain. So far, formation of new neurons has not been detected in adult fly brains and hence has been thought to be absent in Drosophila. Here, we used an improved lineage-labeling method to show that, surprisingly, adult neurogenesis occurs in the medulla cortex of the Drosophila optic lobes. We also find that acute brain damage to this region stimulates adult neurogenesis. Finally, we identify a factor induced by acute damage, which is sufficient to specifically activate the proliferation of a cell type with adult neuroblast characteristics. Our results reveal unexpected plasticity in the adult Drosophila brain and describe a unique model for the genetic analysis of adult neurogenesis, plasticity, and brain regeneration.
Highlights
Many animal tissues, including the brain, contain slow cycling cells whose proliferation has important functions during normal tissue homeostasis and disease (Gould, 2007; Kempermann, 2012; Lledo et al, 2006)
Previous work in Drosophila has detected no neurogenesis in the adult brain (Kato et al, 2009; Siegrist et al, 2010), suggesting that tissue stability has been favored over plasticity
We used an improved method to show that adult proliferation and neurogenesis occur in the Drosophila optic lobes (OLs)
Summary
Many animal tissues, including the brain, contain slow cycling cells whose proliferation has important functions during normal tissue homeostasis and disease (Gould, 2007; Kempermann, 2012; Lledo et al, 2006). Neurogenesis contributes to neural plasticity, damage repair, regeneration (Ohira, 2011; Wang et al, 2011), and is an important aspect of cortical function necessary, for example, for the integration of new memories (Deng et al, 2010; Zhao et al, 2008). Previous work in Drosophila has detected no neurogenesis in the adult brain (Kato et al, 2009; Siegrist et al, 2010), suggesting that tissue stability has been favored over plasticity. We used an improved method to show that adult proliferation and neurogenesis occur in the Drosophila optic lobes (OLs)
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