Prevention of medulla neuron dedifferentiation by Nerfin-1 requires inhibition of Notch activity

作者：Jiajun Xu, Hao Xue, Meng-Xin Yin, Yi Lu, Yunyun Jin, Jinjin Xu, Ling Ge, Wenqing Wu, Margaret S. Ho, Yingzi Yang, Yun Zhao, Lei Zhang · 发表于：Development · 年份：2017 · DOI：10.1242/dev.141341 · 被引用次数：25 · 研究领域：Neurobiology and Insect Physiology Research、Developmental Biology and Gene Regulation、Plant Molecular Biology Research

The Drosophila larval central nervous system comprises the central brain, ventral nerve cord and optic lobe. In these regions, neuroblasts (NBs) divide asymmetrically to self-renew and generate differentiated neurons or glia. To date, mechanisms of preventing neuron dedifferentiation are still unclear, especially in the optic lobe. Here, we show that the zinc-finger transcription factor Nerfin-1 is expressed in early-stage medulla neurons and is essential for maintaining their differentiation. Loss of Nerfin-1 activates Notch signaling, which promotes neuron-to-NB reversion. Repressing Notch signaling largely rescues dedifferentiation in nerfin-1 mutant clones. Thus, we conclude that Nerfin-1 represses Notch activity in medulla neurons and prevents them from dedifferentiation.