Development:中科院生化与细胞所赵允研究组揭示SUMOylation维持果蝇
2016年3月24日，国际知名学术期刊《Development》在线发表了中国科学院上海生命科学研究院生物化学与细胞生物学研究所赵允研究组的最新研究成果：“SUMO regulates somatic cyst stem cells maintenance and directly targets hedgehog pathway in adult Drosophila testis”。该项研究揭示了SUMOylation调控果蝇精巢干细胞稳态维持的新功能。博士研究生吕向东和潘晨宇是本文的共同第一作者，赵允研究员为论文通讯作者。
SUMOylation作为一种类泛素化翻译后修饰对组织的发育以及疾病的发生至关重要，但是其在成体干细胞中的功能鲜有报道。在赵允研究员的指导下，博士研究生吕向东和潘晨宇等充分利用模式生物果蝇的遗传学优势发现SUMOylation自主性地(cell autonomously)调控成体果蝇精巢中Cyst stem cell (CySC)的干性维持;降低CySC细胞中的SUMOylation水平将会导致其提前分化，进而减少CySC的数目。进一步的研究表明，上述SUMOylation通路在CySC细胞中功能的实现主要是通过控制Hedgehog(Hh)信号通路活性而实现。随后的体外生化实验证明Hh信号通路下游转录因子Cubitus interruptus (Ci)可以直接被SUMO化修饰，并且其第782位赖氨酸(Lys, K)的SUMOylation对于促进CySC增殖是必须的。这一工作揭示了SUMOylation信号通路在精巢发育中的重要功能，以及该通路与Hh信号通路之间的Cross-talk对精巢发育调控的重要生物学功能。
SUMOylation直接调控成体果蝇精巢CySC中的Hh信号通路以及CySC的干性
原文链接：
SUMO regulates somatic cyst stem Cells maintenance and directly targets hedgehog pathway in adult Drosophila testis
原文摘要：
SUMO (Small ubiquitin-related modifier) modification (SUMOylation) is a highly dynamic post-translational modification (PTM) playing important roles in tissue development and disease progression. However, its function in adult stem cell maintenance is largely unknown. Here we report the function of SUMOylation in somatic cyst stem cells (CySCs) self-renewal in adultDrosophila testis. The SUMO pathway cell-autonomously regulates CySCs maintenance. Reduction of SUMOylation promotes premature differentiation of CySCs and impedes the proliferation of CySCs, which finally reduce the number of CySCs. Consistently, CySC clones carrying mutation of the SUMO conjugating enzyme are rapidly lost. Furthermore, inhibition of SUMO pathway phenocopies the disruption of Hedgehog (Hh) pathway, and can block the promoted proliferation of CySCs by Hh activation. Importantly, SUMO pathway directly regulates the SUMOylation of Hh pathway transcriptional factor, Cubitus interruptus (Ci), which is required for promoting CySCs proliferation. Thus, we conclude that SUMO directly targets Hh pathway and regulates CySCs maintenance in adult Drosophila testis.
作者：赵允
