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    | DILP 6 |  
      an IGF-like peptide secreted from  fat and glial cells, regulate postfeeding and  nonfeeding growth in Drosophila  | 
     
 
  
    
    
  
  
    
  
    Diverse systemic signals stimulate  niche cells to secrete insulin-like peptides. Such insulin-like peptides  (e.g.  DILP6 and DILP3) bind to cognate  receptors expressed by stem cells and change their behavior, triggering growth  and proliferation. 
    See the perspectives in  “Insulin Finds its Niche.”  by   Seth W. Cheetham, and Andrea H. Brand, Science   340, 817-818, May 17, 2013. 
   
 
    
        
            
                 
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                      Reduced insulin/IGF signaling  extends lifespan in diverse species, including Drosophila melanogaster where  the genome encodes seven insulin-like peptides (dilp1-7). Of these, reduced  dilp2 expressed in the brain has been associated with longevity assurance when  over-expression of dfoxo in fat bodies extends lifespan.  Here, we show that the insulin-regulated transcription factor dFOXO positively modulates dilp6 mRNA in adult  fat body. Over-expression of dilp6 in adult fat body extends lifespan and  increases longevity-associated metabolic phenotypes. Adult fat body dilp6  expression represses dilp2 and dilp5 mRNA in the brain, and the secretion of  DILP2 into the hemolymph. The longevity benefit of  expressing dfoxo in fat body, and the nonautonomous effect of fat body dfoxo upon brain dilp expression, is blocked by simultaneously  repressing dilp6 by RNAi in fat body. dilp6 thus appears to  bridge dFOXO, adipose tissue and brain endocrine  function to regulate Drosophila longevity. 
                     
                
                  Bai H, Kang P, Tatar M., Aging Cell. 2012 Dec;11(6):978-85. doi: 10.1111/acel.12000. Epub 2012 Sep 18. 
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                      Many stem, progenitor and cancer  cells undergo periods of mitotic quiescence from which they can be reactivated.  The signals triggering entry into and exit from this  reversible dormant state are not well understood. In the developing Drosophila  central nervous system, multipotent self-renewing progenitors called neuroblasts undergo quiescence in a  stereotypical spatiotemporal pattern. Entry into quiescence is regulated by Hox proteins and an internal neuroblast timer. Exit from quiescence  (reactivation) is subject to a nutritional checkpoint requiring dietary amino  acids. Organ co-cultures also implicate an unidentified signal from an  adipose/hepatic-like tissue called the fat body. Here we provide in vivo evidence  that Slimfast amino-acid sensing and Target of rapamycin (TOR) signalling activate a fat-body-derived signal  (FDS) required for neuroblast reactivation. Downstream of this  signal, Insulin-like receptor signalling and the Phosphatidylinositol  3-kinase (PI3K)/TOR network are required in neuroblasts for exit from quiescence. We  demonstrate that nutritionally regulated glial cells provide the source of Insulin-like  peptides (ILPs) relevant for timely neuroblast reactivation but not for overall  larval growth. Conversely, ILPs secreted into  the haemolymph by  median neurosecretory  cells systemically control organismal size but do not reactivate neuroblasts. Drosophila thus contains two  segregated ILP pools, one regulating proliferation within the central nervous  system and the other controlling tissue growth systemically. Our findings  support a model in which amino acids trigger the cell cycle re-entry of neural  progenitors via a fat-body-glia-neuroblasts relay. This mechanism indicates  that dietary nutrients and remote organs, as well as local niches, are key  regulators of transitions in stem-cell behaviour.  
                     
                
                  Sousa-Nunes R, Yee LL, Gould AP. et al, Nature. 2011 Mar 24;471(7339):508-12. doi: 10.1038/nature09867. Epub 2011 Feb 23.  
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                      In metazoans, tissue growth relies  on the availability of nutrients--stored internally or obtained from the  environment--and the resulting activation of insulin/IGF signaling (IIS). In  Drosophila, growth is mediated by seven Drosophila insulin-like peptides (Dilps), acting through a canonical IIS  pathway. During the larval period, animals feed and Dilps produced by the brain couple nutrient  uptake with systemic growth. We show here that, during metamorphosis, when feeding  stops, a specific DILP (Dilp6) is produced by the fat body and relays the  growth signal. Expression of DILP6 during pupal development is controlled by the steroid  hormone ecdysone. Remarkably, DILP6 expression is  also induced upon starvation, and both its developmental and environmental  expression require the Drosophila FoxO transcription factor. This study  reveals a specific class of ILPs induced upon metabolic stress that promotes  growth in conditions of nutritional deprivation or following developmentally  induced cessation of feeding. 
                  Slaidina M, Delanoue R, Gronke S, Partridge L, Léopold P. Dev Cell. 2009 Dec;17(6):874-84. doi: 10.1016/j.devcel.2009.10.009. 
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                      Members of the insulin family of  peptides have conserved roles in the regulation of growth and metabolism in a  wide variety of metazoans. Here we show that Drosophila insulin-like peptide 6  (DILP6), which is structurally similar to  vertebrate insulin-like growth factor (IGF), is predominantly expressed in the  fat body, a functional equivalent of the vertebrate liver and adipocytes. This expression occurs during the postfeeding stage under the direct regulation  of ecdysteroid. We further reveal that dilp6  mutants show growth defects during the postfeeding stage, which results in reduced  adult body size through a decrease in cell number. This phenotype is rescued by  fat body-specific expression of dilp6. These data indicate that DILP6 is a functional, as well as a  structural, counterpart of vertebrate IGFs. Our data provide in vivo evidence for a  role of ILPs in determining adult body size through the regulation of postfeeding growth. 
                  Okamoto  N, YOkamoto N, Yamanaka N et al, Dev Cell. 2009 Dec;17(6):885-91. doi: 10.1016/j.devcel.2009.10.008.  
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                                  DILP 8                                   
                                                                                                           
                                        %DILP%                                         
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