Oxidative stress in the haematopoietic niche regulates the cellular immune response in Drosophila

Oxidative stress induced by high levels of reactive oxygen species (ROS) is associated with the development of different pathological conditions, including cancers and autoimmune diseases. We analysed whether oxidatively challenged tissue can have systemic effects on the development of cellular immune responses using Drosophila as a model system. Indeed, the haematopoietic niche that normally maintains blood progenitors can sense oxidative stress and regulate the cellular immune response. Pathogen infection induces ROS in the niche cells, resulting in the secretion of an epidermal growth factor-like cytokine signal that leads to the differentiation of specialized cells involved in innate immune responses.We thank R. Nagaraj, C.J. Evans and other members of the Banerjee Laboratory for valuable comments during these studies. We also thank I. Ando, M. Freeman, B.???Z. Shilo, A. Simcox and P.H. Taghert for sharing reagents. We are grateful to the Bloomington Drosophila Stock Center, Mishima Genetic Strain Research Center, Vienna Drosophila RNAi Center and Developmental Studies Hybridoma Bank at the University of Iowa. J.S. is supported by a Broad Stem Cell Research Center Training Grant. This work was supported by a National Institutes of Health grant (5R01 HL067395) to U.B