Ricerc@Sapienza

Only a small number of cells in adult tissues (the stem cells) possess the ability to self-renew at every cell division, while producing differentiating daughter cells to maintain tissue homeostasis for an organism's lifetime. A better understanding of stem cells biology will not only reveal the crucial molecular mechanisms that control the formation and maintenance of tissues but will also influence stem cell-based therapies in regenerative medicine and cancer treatments. Much progress has been made in recent years in understanding the molecular mechanisms underlying intrinsic and extrinsic controls of GSC regulation but the complex network of genetic and epigenetic pathways is only partially understood. Heterochromatin Protein 1 (HP1) is a dynamic epigenetic determinant mainly involved in heterochromatin formation, epigenetic gene silencing and telomere maintenance. Importantly, I found that, in Drosophila, HP1 plays a crucial role in the control of GSC homeostasis in female germline. My proposal is focused to understand the molecular mechanism of HP1 function in self-renewal and differentiation of adult stem cells in Drosophila melanogaster.