Amoyel Lab
We use the fruit fly to study
HowStem cells interact with their environment
Stem cells have a social life and interact with other cells around them. They need support cells, which make up what's known as the niche, to provide them with signals in order to remain stem cells. Together, the niche and stem cell must respond to the needs of the tissue and ensure that lost cells are replenished, or that the tissue adapts to systemic changes such as nutrient deprivation. We seek to understand how this coordination between stem cells and their environment is achieved, what support the niche and broader systemic environment of the organism provide, and how cells coordinate these various inputs to decide whether to self-renew or differentiate.
the stem cell is genetically labelled with green fluorescent protein
A readout for differentiation signal Tor is seen in green, stem cells are labelled in red and the niche is in blue
the stem cell is genetically labelled with green fluorescent protein
Our research
We use a combination of genetics, live imaging, mathematical modelling and genomics approaches to understand what makes one stem cell able to compete with its neighbours.
We focus on several related questions :
- How do stem cells interpret the signals they receive from the niche?
- How does a single cell choose to differentiate, and what changes in the cell biology occur to enable differentiation?
- How are these fate decisions coordinated across the tissue?
- How do systemic signals such as nutrition impact stem cell behaviour?
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Why the Drosophila testis ?
The fruit fly testis is an ideal model system : all the stem cells as well as the niche can be identified using their position. There are two stem cell populations, germline (which give rise to sperm) and somatic cyst stem cells (CySCs), which give rise to support cells for germ cell development. We focus on CySCs. We know many signals that control the behaviour of stem cells, and have unparalleled tools to genetically modify and track single stem cells so we can see how they behave over time.
We hope to make important findings that will advance our understanding of how stem cells sense and respond to their environmental conditions, using the fly as a model.
The need to adapt to environmental conditions, though, isn't restricted to flies, it happens among many stem cells, in mice and in humans, and is controlled by the same genes and signals as the ones we study in flies. Therefore, by using all the tools and advantages of fly research, we will understand better how our own stem cells work.