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Peer-reviewedCC BY 4.0Development (Cambridge, England)

How serially homologous neuroblasts produce different temporal cohorts along the Drosophila larval body axis

  • Deeptha Vasudevan1
  • Yi-wen Wang1
  • Hannah Carr1
  • Elise Paniel1,2
  • Sean Corcoran1,3
  • Chris C. Wreden1
  • Elaine Kushkowski1,3
  • Conor Lee-Smith1
  • Ellie S. Heckscher1,3,4
4 affiliations
  1. 1Department of Molecular Genetics and Cell Biology, University of Chicago, Chicago, IL 60637, USA
  2. 2Paris Diderot University, 75013 Paris, France
  3. 3Committee on Development, Regeneration and Stem Cell Biology, University of Chicago, Chicago, IL 60637, USA
  4. 4Institute for Neuroscience, University of Chicago, Chicago, IL 60637, USA
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Abstract

Neural stem cells are highly flexible, generating different neuronal lineages depending on context. In the Drosophila CNS, 30 types of neural stem cells, or neuroblasts, are repeated in each segment as serial homologs, but produce distinct circuits specialized for different body regions. The full in vivo heterogeneity in stem cell development is still poorly understood. This study aimed to uncover the cellular mechanisms behind the development of regionally specialized circuits from serially homologous neuroblasts, focusing on NB3-3 lineages as a model. Using lineage tracing, Notch manipulations, marker analysis, cell death blockade and circuit tracing, we mapped neurogenesis and circuit assembly for each NB3-3 lineage across all segments. Our results show that serially homologous neuroblasts in certain regions modify proliferation patterns, adding or omitting temporal cohorts, leading to extra neurons for specialized circuits. Four types of temporal cohorts are produced, but one type, which we term a ‘fundamental’ temporal cohort, appears in every region. Neurons from this cohort are further refined post-mitotically, enabling regional circuit specialization. Our study reveals a framework for the heterogeneous development of serially homologous stem cells.

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Cite

BibTeXRIS
BibTeX
@article{vasudevan2026serially,
  title = {{How serially homologous neuroblasts produce different temporal cohorts along the Drosophila larval body axis}},
  author = {Deeptha Vasudevan and Yi-wen Wang and Hannah Carr and Elise Paniel and Sean Corcoran and Chris C. Wreden and Elaine Kushkowski and Conor Lee-Smith and Ellie S. Heckscher},
  journal = {Development (Cambridge, England)},
  year = {2026},
  month = oct,
  doi = {10.1242/dev.205389},
  url = {https://doi.org/10.1242/dev.205389},
  note = {CC BY 4.0},
}
RIS
TY  - JOUR
TI  - How serially homologous neuroblasts produce different temporal cohorts along the Drosophila larval body axis
AU  - Deeptha Vasudevan
AU  - Yi-wen Wang
AU  - Hannah Carr
AU  - Elise Paniel
AU  - Sean Corcoran
AU  - Chris C. Wreden
AU  - Elaine Kushkowski
AU  - Conor Lee-Smith
AU  - Ellie S. Heckscher
PY  - 2026
DA  - 2026/10/12
JO  - Development (Cambridge, England)
DO  - 10.1242/dev.205389
UR  - https://doi.org/10.1242/dev.205389
AB  - Neural stem cells are highly flexible, generating different neuronal lineages depending on context. In the Drosophila CNS, 30 types of neural stem cells, or neuroblasts, are repeated in each segment as serial homologs, but produce distinct circuits specialized for different body regions. The full in vivo heterogeneity in stem cell development is still poorly understood. This study aimed to uncover the cellular mechanisms behind the development of regionally specialized circuits from serially homologous neuroblasts, focusing on NB3-3 lineages as a model. Using lineage tracing, Notch manipulations, marker analysis, cell death blockade and circuit tracing, we mapped neurogenesis and circuit assembly for each NB3-3 lineage across all segments. Our results show that serially homologous neuroblasts in certain regions modify proliferation patterns, adding or omitting temporal cohorts, leading to extra neurons for specialized circuits. Four types of temporal cohorts are produced, but one type, which we term a ‘fundamental’ temporal cohort, appears in every region. Neurons from this cohort are further refined post-mitotically, enabling regional circuit specialization. Our study reveals a framework for the heterogeneous development of serially homologous stem cells.
SN  - 0950-1991
SN  - 1477-9129
ER  -