Cytoneme feedback ensures signaling specificity when multiple ligands converge on a common receptor.

ABSTRACT: Cell-cell communication via conserved signaling pathways often involves multiple paracrine ligands that act through shared receptors and/or downstream cascades yet elicit distinct outcomes, raising the question of how specificity is achieved. In the Drosophila adult-muscle-precursor (AMP) niche, the FGF ligands Pyramus and Thisbe both signal through the Heartless (Htl) receptor in isogenic AMPs yet drive divergent responses. In-vivo imaging of endogenous Pyramus:mCherry^endo and Thisbe:sfGFP^endo knock-ins revealed that the ligands segregate into distinct, receptor-bound territories among isogenic AMPs. This segregation arises as AMPs acquire ligands via polarized, Htl-containing cytonemes that directly contact each ligand source. Cytoneme polarity and tar

SUBMITTER: Patel A 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC12424825 | biostudies-literature | 2025 Sep

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature