• Molecules and Cells
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• v.45 no.3
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• pp.101-108
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• 2022

Drosophila melanogaster lymph gland, the primary site of hematopoiesis, contains myeloid-like progenitor cells that differentiate into functional hemocytes in the circulation of pupae and adults. Fly hemocytes are dynamic and plastic, and they play diverse roles in the innate immune response and wound healing. Various hematopoietic regulators in the lymph gland ensure the developmental and functional balance between progenitors and mature blood cells. In addition, systemic factors, such as nutrient availability and sensory inputs, integrate environmental variabilities to synchronize the blood development in the lymph gland with larval growth, physiology, and immunity. This review examines the intrinsic and extrinsic factors determining the progenitor states during hemocyte development in the lymph gland and provides new insights for further studies that may extend the frontier of our collective knowledge on hematopoiesis and innate immunity.

• Molecules and Cells
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• v.40 no.12
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• pp.976-985
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• 2017

Iron is an essential divalent ion for aerobic life. Life has evolved to maintain iron homeostasis for normal cellular and physiological functions and therefore imbalances in iron levels exert a wide range of consequences. Responses to iron dysregulation in blood development, however, remain elusive. Here, we found that iron homeostasis is critical for differentiation of Drosophila blood cells in the larval hematopoietic organ, called the lymph gland. Supplementation of an iron chelator, bathophenanthroline disulfate (BPS) results in an excessive differentiation of the crystal cell in the lymph gland. This phenotype is recapitulated by loss of Fer1HCH in the intestine, indicating that reduced levels of systemic iron enhances crystal cell differentiation. Detailed analysis of Fer1HCH-tagged-GFP revealed that Fer1HCH is also expressed in the hematopoietic systems. Lastly, blocking Fer1HCH expression in the mature blood cells showed marked increase in the blood differentiation of both crystal cells and plasmatocytes. Thus, our work suggests a relevance of systemic and local iron homeostasis in blood differentiation, prompting further investigation of molecular mechanisms underlying iron regulation and cell fate determination in the hematopoietic system.

• The Korean Journal of Zoology
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• v.11 no.4
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• pp.103-117
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• 1968

Insect hemocytes during metamorphosis were studies by histchemical and autoradiographic methods is Pieris rapae (Lepidoptera). The hemocytes were classified into six types, prohemocytes, plasmatocytes, podocytes, granular hemocytes, spherule cells and oenocytoids on the basis of the transitions in shapes and inclnsions of cytoplasms. Proteins, nucleic acids, polysaccharides and lipids in the hemocytes were detected histochemically from larval to pupal stages to learn the rise and fall of them during growth and metamorphosis. Most of the granules consisted of glycogen, neutral mucopolysaccharides and mucoprotein in addition to some granules of neutral fats and phospholipids were found in the granular hemocytes and spherule cells. Mitotic figures and DNA synthetic activities were observed in every type of hemocytes from 2nd to 5th instars, suggesting the all types of hemocytes originated from the prohemocytes. The cytoplasmic filaments of plasmatocytes and pdocytes extended very long in prepupa and pupa and the vermiform cells were the transformed plasmatocytes due to their further differentiation.

• Molecules and Cells
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• v.43 no.2
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• pp.114-120
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• 2020

Drosophila hematopoiesis is comparable to mammalian differentiation of myeloid lineages, and therefore, has been a useful model organism in illustrating the molecular and genetic basis for hematopoiesis. Multiple novel regulators and signals have been uncovered using the tools of Drosophila genetics. A Runt domain protein, lozenge, is one of the first players recognized and closely studied in the hematopoietic lineage specification. Here, we explore the role of lozenge in determination of prohemocytes into a special class of hemocyte, namely the crystal cell, and discuss molecules and signals controlling the lozenge function and its implication in immunity and stress response. Given the highly conserved nature of Runt domain in both invertebrates and vertebrates, studies in Drosophila will enlighten our perspectives on Runx-mediated development and pathologies.

• Applied Microscopy
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• v.33 no.2
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• pp.131-143
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• 2003

A Differentiating pathway of hemocytes in vitro and in vivo of grasshopper, Euprepocnemis shirakii was described using light and electron microscopes. In the interior of body, the stem cells of the hemopoietic organ differentiated into six types of cells respectively which are prohemoyte, plasmatocyte, granulocyte I, granulocyte II, spherulocyte and oenocytoid. The formation of these hemocytes was derived from the stem cells surrounded by a reticular cell. Hemopoietic tissue cultured in the insect media differentiated different hemocytes, but none of them underwent any mitotic division. Morphological features of the cultured cells in media were essentially the same as those of the hemocytes differentiated from the stem cells in vivo. These results were shown that each stem cell could differentiate into different types of hemocytes. It was confirmed that the stem cells possessed the pluripotent differentiation ability to directly each hemocyte, and that the once formed hemocytes in vivo and in vitro didn t undergo further transformation to other hemocytes. The maintenance of circulating hemocytes in grasshopper had been depended on the widely spreading hemopoietic organ situated in the upper surface of the dorsal alary muscle and located on the first to eighth segments.