Division of Biological Sciences

Leanne Jones

Leanne Jones

Associate Adjunct Professor
Section of Cell and Developmental Biology, UCSD
William Scandling Developmental Chair
Laboratory of Genetics, Salk Institute

e-mail: ljones@salk.edu
Salk Institute Web Page

     Stem cells are the building blocks during development of organisms as varied as plants and humans. In addition, stem cells provide for the maintenance and regeneration of tissues, such as blood and skin, throughout the lifetime of an individual. The ability of stem cells to contribute to these processes depends on their ability to divide and generate both new stem cells (self-renewal) as well as specialized cell types (differentiation). Stem cells lose the potential for continued self-renewal when removed from their normal cellular environment, known as the stem cell "niche," suggesting an essential role for the niche in controlling stem cell behavior.



figure 1

Figure 1: The Drosophila intestine is maintained by multipotent stem cells (green) that can differentiate into two different cell types: polyploidy enteroctyes (DAPI, blue) and enteroendocrine cells (red).  Cell boundaries are marked by staining with an antibody that recognizes a component of adherens junctions.

     The Jones lab is using fruit fly Drosophila melanogaster as a model system to establish paradigms for how stem cell behavior is controlled. Adult stem cells can be easily located in the fly intestine and testis, and the stem cells that maintain these tissues are remarkably similar to their mammalian counterparts. Therefore, it is possible to study these cells in the context of their normal environment without destroying the tissue. Being able to study the behavior of stem cells in vivo allows us to begin to ask questions about how the niche can control stem cell self-renewal and survival.  Our current research is focused on understanding how the relationship between stem cells and the niche evolves during development, as a consequence of aging, in response to chronic and acute change in metabolism, and during tumor initiation and progression.

figure 2

Figure 2: The Drosophila testis contains two stem cell populations, germline stem cells (GSCs, green) and somatic cyst stem cells (CySCs, red), which surround and are in direct contact with a cluster of somatic support cells, call the hub (marked by asterisk).

M. Reya, S. Bahadorani, J. Cho, C. Koehler, M. Ulgherait, J.H. Hur, W.  S.  Ansari, T. L. Lo, Jr., D. L. Jones* & Walker, D.W.* 2011. Modulation of longevity and tissue homeostasis by the Drosophila PGC-1 homolog. Cell Metabolism  (In press). (*-equal contribution)

L. Wang, C.J. McLeod, D.L. Jones. 2011. Regulation of adult stem cell behavior by nutrient signaling. Cell Cycle. Aug 15;10(16):2628-34. Epub 2011 Aug 15.

D.L. Jones and T.A. Rando. 2011. Emerging models and paradigms of stem cell ageing. Nat Cell Biol. 13: 506-512.

C. McLeod, L. Wang, C. Wong, and D. L. Jones. 2010. Stem cell dynamics in response to nutrient availability. Current Biology. 20: 1-6.

L. Wang and D.L. Jones. 2010. The relationship between stem cells and aging in Drosophila. Experimental Gerontology. Oct 29. [Epub ahead of print].

H. Jasper and D.L. Jones. 2010. Metabolic regulation of stem cell behavior and implications for longevity. Cell Metabolism. 10: 561-565.

W. Mair, C.  McLeod, L. Wang, and D. L. Jones. 2010. Dietary restriction enhances germline stem cell maintenance. Aging Cell. 9(5):916-8.

J. Voog and D.L. Jones. 2010. Stem cells and the Niche: a dynamic duo. Cell Stem Cell 6: 103-115.

J. Voog, C. D’Alterio, and D.L. Jones. 2008. Multipotent somatic stem cells contribute to the stem cell niche in the Drosophila testis. Nature. 454(7208): 1132-6.

T. Flatt, K.-J. Min, C. D’Alterio, E. Villa-Cuesta, J. Cumbers, R. Lehmann, D. L. Jones, and M. Tatar. 2008. Drosophila Germ-Line Modulation of Insulin Signaling and Lifespan. PNAS. 105(17): 6368-6373.

M. Boyle, C. Wong, M. Rocha, and D. L. Jones. 2007. Decline in self-renewal factors leads to aging of the stem cell niche in the Drosophila testis. Cell Stem Cell. 1(4): 470-478.

A. A. Kiger*, D. L. Jones*, C. Schulz, M. B. Rogers, M.T. Fuller. 2001. Stem Cell Self-renewal specified by JAK-STAT signaling in response to a support cell cue. Science. 294:  2542-2545. (*-equal contribution)