It was thought that the thymus serves its purpose for the immune system early in life. Insights about the organ in adults reveal its importance for later well-being.

Modern stock management for Drosophila research labs. Track stocks, plan crosses, import from FlyBase, print labels, and collaborate across institutions.

Cancer-driving mutations cooperate with inflammatory cues in cancer progression, but exactly how remains unclear. This study unveils how oncogenic Ras engages inflammation to promote tumor progression...

Identification of ZAD-ZnF genes as key regulators of genome organization during Drosophila embryogenesis.

Fragments of aberrant cytoplasmic mRNA pair with nuclear RNAs to augment transcription

In the fly central complex, PFNa neurons switch from firing classical sodium spikes when depolarized to firing non-canonical T-type calcium spikes when hyperpolarized. This bidirectional spiking allow...

Adult intestinal plasticity and tissue repair involves complex and reciprocal multicellular interactions. Medina, Perochon, et al. report a signaling axis between hormone-producing cells in the intest...

During normal development, growing fly wing precursors become hypoxic, triggering HIF-1α-mediated negative feedback on TOR signalling and growth deceleration. Without this feedback, the mismatch betwe...

Author summary There are numerous bioactive lipids that control animal physiology, and some of them are commonly observed in both humans and insects. Well-studied insects such as fruit flies can there...

The fundamental principles defining how cell state transitions are regulated along a tumour lineage to determine its cellular composition remain unclear. Here, we investigate how such transitions are controlled in a reductionist hierarchical brain tumour model. Quantitative analysis of 3D transition maps revealed that the differentiation of cancer stem cells (CSCs) into transit amplifying progenitors (TAPs) depends on the identity of their immediate neighbours. This is embodied in a transition rule that quantitatively predicts the probability to differentiate as a function of the proportion of TAP neighbours. Integrated into 3D simulations of tumour growth, this rule spontaneously recapitulates spatial segregation of CSCs in clusters and their stable proportion. We further show in vivo that CSC clustering protects the CSC pool from depletion driven by TAPs. We identify an EGFR-mediated relay mechanism that propagates the CSC-to-TAP transition across CSC clusters. In CSCs, the LRIG1-like EGFR inhibitor Kekkon1 dampens this propagation, ensuring continuous replenishment of the CSC pool. Collectively, these findings show how local fate regulation drives emergent segregation which in turn constrains CSC differentiation dynamics. This provides a conceptual framework to understand and exploit the tumour’s intrinsic differentiation potential by manipulating the determinants of its system-level features. ### Competing Interest Statement The authors have declared no competing interest. Turing Centre for Living Systems (CENTURI) La Ligue Contre le Cancer, https://ror.org/00rkrv905, Equipe Labellisée LIGUE 2025 Fondation pour la Recherche Médicale, ANR-24-EXCI-0001, ANR-24-EXCI-0002, ANR-24-EXCI-0003, ANR-24-EXCI-0004, ANR-24-EXCI-0005 Agence Nationale de la Recherche under the France 2030 program, ANR-24-EXCI-0001, ANR-24-EXCI-0002, ANR-24-EXCI-0003, ANR-24-EXCI-0004, ANR-24-EXCI-0005 Centre South-ROCK, INCa-Cancer_18695

Authors of the papers listed below suggest that they include a technical advance, new type of reagent, or resource likely to be useful for other researchers. Author suggestions have been collected via the Fast-Track Your Paper tool since October 2020, with those most recently submitted at the top. Please note, there will be a lag time before listed papers can be found on FlyBase (FBrf links will become active when available) and the submission date does not necessarily match the publication date of the paper.

In Drosophila and mouse models of cancer cachexia, Liu et al. show that tumour-derived cytokines induce hepatic gluconeogenesis, which in turn leads to dysregulation of metabolism and drives cancer ca...

Intragenomic conflict with selfish genetic elements spurs adaptive changes in subunits of essential multiprotein complexes. Whether and how these adaptive changes disrupt interactions within such comp...

The vertebrate brain develops through a precisely orchestrated sequence of events, where neural progenitors generate neuronal diversity. However, the importance of stem cell origin in the acquisition ...

Although metagenomic sequencing has revealed a rich microbial biodiversity in the mammalian gut, methods to genetically alter specific species in the microbiome are highly limited. Here, we introduce ...