Dilp8–Lgr3 critical to ensure developmental stability in Drosophila

The group of Alisson Gontijo at CEDOC discovered a novel neuroendocrine circuit responsive to growth aberrations. Different organs need to sense growth perturbations in distant tissues to coordinate their size and differentiation status during development. The Gontijo team determined that the sensing of peripheral growth perturbations in the fruit fly (Drosophila melanogaster) requires a novel population of CNS neurons expressing the Lgr3 relaxin receptor. Neuronal Lgr3 is required for the transmission of the peripheral growth aberration signal, Dilp8, to the prothoracic gland, which controls the onset of metamorphosis and thereby the cessation of imaginal disc growth. This work reveals a new Dilp8–Lgr3 pathway that is critical to ensure developmental stability in Drosophila. See the paper here.