Control of Drosophila perineurial glial growth by interacting neurotransmitter-mediated signaling pathways.

Signaling Pathways Controlling the Growth and Proliferation of Drosophila Perineurial Glial Cells

Phosphatidylinositol 3-kinase and Akt nonautonomously promote perineurial glial growth in Drosophila peripheral nerves.

Drosophila peripheral nerves, structured similarly to their mammalian counterparts, comprise a layer of motor and sensory axons wrapped by an inner peripheral glia (analogous to the mammalian Schwann cell) and an outer perineurial glia (analogous to the mammalian perineurium). Growth and proliferation within mammalian peripheral nerves are increased by Ras pathway activation: loss-of-function m...

Perineurial Barrier Glia Physically Respond to Alcohol in an Akap200-Dependent Manner to Promote Tolerance

Ethanol is the most common drug of abuse. It exerts its behavioral effects by acting on widespread neural circuits; however, its impact on glial cells is less understood. We show that Drosophila perineurial glia are critical for ethanol tolerance, a simple form of behavioral plasticity. The perineurial glia form the continuous outer cellular layer of the blood-brain barrier and are the interfac...

Spinster controls Dpp signaling during glial migration in the Drosophila eye.

The development of multicellular organisms requires the well balanced and coordinated migration of many cell types. This is of particular importance within the developing nervous system, where glial cells often move long distances to reach their targets. The majority of glial cells in the peripheral nervous system of the Drosophila embryo is derived from the CNS and migrates along motor axons t...

Predetermined embryonic glial cells form the distinct glial sheaths of the Drosophila peripheral nervous system

One of the numerous functions of glial cells in Drosophila is the ensheathment of neurons to isolate them from the potassium-rich haemolymph, thereby establishing the blood-brain barrier. Peripheral nerves of flies are surrounded by three distinct glial cell types. Although all embryonic peripheral glia (ePG) have been identified on a single-cell level, their contribution to the three glial she...