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Updated: Jun 17, 2026

Isolating Intestinal Stem Cells from Adult Drosophila Midguts by FACS to Study Stem Cell Behavior During Aging
Published on: December 16, 2014
JAK-STAT is restrained by Notch to control cell proliferation of the Drosophila intestinal stem cells
Wei Liu1, Shree Ram Singh, Steven X Hou
1The Mouse Cancer Genetics Program, National Cancer Institute at Frederick, National Institutes of Health, Frederick, Maryland 21702, USA. weiliu@mail.nih.gov
Abstract:
The Drosophila midgut epithelium undergoes continuous regeneration that is sustained by multipotent intestinal stem cells (ISCs) underneath. Notch signaling has dual functions to control ISC behavior: it slows down the ISC proliferation and drives the activated ISCs into different differentiation pathways at a dose-dependent manner. Here we identified a molecular mechanism to unite these two contradictory functions. We found JAK-STAT signaling controls ISC proliferation and this ability is negatively regulated by Notch at least through a transcriptional control of the JAK-STAT signaling ligand, unpaired (upd). This study provides insight into how stem cells, under steady conditions, balance the processes of proliferation and differentiation to maintain the stable cellular composition of a healthy tissue.
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