Acquisition of nonprofessional phagocytic cell fate plays an important role in sculpting functional metazoan organs and maintaining overall tissue homeostasis. Though physiologically highly relevant, how the normal epithelial cells acquire phagocytic fate is still mostly unclear. We have employed the Drosophila ovary model to demonstrate that the classical ecdysone signaling in the somatic epithelial follicle cells (AFCs) aids the removal of germline nurse cells (NCs) in late oogenesis. Our live-cell imaging data reveal a novel phenomenon wherein collective behavior of 4–5 AFCs is required for clearing a single NC. By employing classical genetics, molecular biology, and yeast one-hybrid assay, we demonstrate that ecdysone modulates the phagocytic disposition of AFCs at two levels. It regulates the epithelial–mesenchymal transition of the AFCs through Serpent and modulates the phagocytic behavior of the AFCs through Croquemort and Draper. Our data provide unprecedented novel molecular insights into how ecdysone signaling reprograms AFCs toward a phagocytic fate.
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May 28 2025
Ecdysone regulates phagocytic cell fate of epithelial cells in developing Drosophila eggs
Gaurab Ghosh
,
Gaurab Ghosh
(Conceptualization, Data curation, Formal analysis, Investigation, Methodology, Validation, Visualization, Writing - original draft, Writing - review & editing)
1Department of Biological Sciences,
Indian Institute of Science Education and Research-Kolkata
, Mohanpur, India
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Devyan Das
,
Devyan Das
(Data curation, Formal analysis, Investigation, Methodology, Validation, Visualization)
1Department of Biological Sciences,
Indian Institute of Science Education and Research-Kolkata
, Mohanpur, India
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Abhrajyoti Nandi
,
Abhrajyoti Nandi
(Data curation, Formal analysis, Investigation, Methodology, Visualization)
1Department of Biological Sciences,
Indian Institute of Science Education and Research-Kolkata
, Mohanpur, India
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Souvik De
,
Souvik De
(Data curation, Formal analysis, Investigation, Methodology)
1Department of Biological Sciences,
Indian Institute of Science Education and Research-Kolkata
, Mohanpur, India
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Sreeramaiah N. Gangappa
,
Sreeramaiah N. Gangappa
(Investigation, Resources, Supervision, Writing - review & editing)
1Department of Biological Sciences,
Indian Institute of Science Education and Research-Kolkata
, Mohanpur, India
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Mohit Prasad
(Conceptualization, Funding acquisition, Project administration, Supervision, Validation, Visualization, Writing - original draft, Writing - review & editing)
1Department of Biological Sciences,
Indian Institute of Science Education and Research-Kolkata
, Mohanpur, India
Correspondence to Mohit Prasad: [email protected]
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Gaurab Ghosh
Conceptualization, Data curation, Formal analysis, Investigation, Methodology, Validation, Visualization, Writing - original draft, Writing - review & editing
1Department of Biological Sciences,
Indian Institute of Science Education and Research-Kolkata
, Mohanpur, India
Devyan Das
Data curation, Formal analysis, Investigation, Methodology, Validation, Visualization
1Department of Biological Sciences,
Indian Institute of Science Education and Research-Kolkata
, Mohanpur, India
Abhrajyoti Nandi
Data curation, Formal analysis, Investigation, Methodology, Visualization
1Department of Biological Sciences,
Indian Institute of Science Education and Research-Kolkata
, Mohanpur, India
Souvik De
Data curation, Formal analysis, Investigation, Methodology
1Department of Biological Sciences,
Indian Institute of Science Education and Research-Kolkata
, Mohanpur, India
Sreeramaiah N. Gangappa
Investigation, Resources, Supervision, Writing - review & editing
1Department of Biological Sciences,
Indian Institute of Science Education and Research-Kolkata
, Mohanpur, India
Correspondence to Mohit Prasad: [email protected]
Disclosures: The authors declare no competing interests exist.
Received:
November 20 2024
Revision Received:
April 01 2025
Accepted:
May 12 2025
Online ISSN: 1540-8140
Print ISSN: 0021-9525
Funding
Funder(s):
Council of Scientific and Industrial Research, India
Funder(s):
Indian Institute of Science Education and Research Kolkata
Funder(s):
Department of Biotechnology
- Award Id(s): BT/INF/22/SP45383/2022
© 2025 Ghosh et al.
2025
Ghosh et al.
This article is distributed under the terms as described at https://rupress.org/pages/terms102024/.
J Cell Biol (2025) 224 (8): e202411073.
Article history
Received:
November 20 2024
Revision Received:
April 01 2025
Accepted:
May 12 2025
Citation
Gaurab Ghosh, Devyan Das, Abhrajyoti Nandi, Souvik De, Sreeramaiah N. Gangappa, Mohit Prasad; Ecdysone regulates phagocytic cell fate of epithelial cells in developing Drosophila eggs. J Cell Biol 4 August 2025; 224 (8): e202411073. doi: https://doi.org/10.1083/jcb.202411073
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