Abstract
The female reproductive tract (female-RT) must decipher the repertoire of molecular cues received from the male during copulation in order to activate and coordinate tract functionality necessary for high fertility. In Drosophila, this modulation is partially driven by spermathecal secretory cells (SSC). The SSC are a layer of cuboidal secretory glandular cells surrounding the spermatheca capsule where sperm is stored. It is unclear, however, how the SSC regulate the system’s activity. Here we show that mating activates the secretory machinery of the SSC. The SSC release a heterogeneous population of extracellular vesicles (EVs) which is involved in initiating and managing the increase in egg-laying, and possibly sperm storage. Moreover, sperm and male accessory gland proteins are essential for such mating-mediated SSC activity. Thus, mating regulates secretory/endocytic pathways required for trafficking of vesicles to SSC-female-RT target sites, which modulate and coordinate reproductive tract activity to achieve high fertility.
| Original language | American English |
|---|---|
| Article number | 815 |
| Journal | Communications Biology |
| Volume | 5 |
| Issue number | 1 |
| DOIs | |
| State | Published - Dec 2022 |
Bibliographical note
Funding Information:We thank Clive Wilson for introducing us to the fascinating world of extracellular vesicles, and Neta Regev-Rudzki, Clive, and Rob Maeda for sharing advice, helpful discussions, fly lines and reagents. Ruti Yonah, Uyen Tram, John Ewer and anonymous reviewers for advice and comments on the manuscript. Einat Zelinger for imaging advice and all members of the Heifetz Lab for help, suggestions and discussions. Prabhavathi Ramanna for assisting with the fertility experiments. Yaara Yizhak (Heifetz Lab), Einat Zelinger (CSI Center for Scientific Imaging, The Hebrew University, Rehovot, Israel), Raquel Isidoro Silva and Einat Nativ-Roth (The Ilse Katz Institute for Nanoscale Science and Technology Ben-Gurion University of the Negev, Beer Sheva, Israel) for assisting with the STEM and cryo-EM imaging. This work was supported by Israel Science Foundation (ISF-2041/17).
Funding Information:
We thank Clive Wilson for introducing us to the fascinating world of extracellular vesicles, and Neta Regev-Rudzki, Clive, and Rob Maeda for sharing advice, helpful discussions, fly lines and reagents. Ruti Yonah, Uyen Tram, John Ewer and anonymous reviewers for advice and comments on the manuscript. Einat Zelinger for imaging advice and all members of the Heifetz Lab for help, suggestions and discussions. Prabhavathi Ramanna for assisting with the fertility experiments. Yaara Yizhak (Heifetz Lab), Einat Zelinger (CSI Center for Scientific Imaging, The Hebrew University, Rehovot, Israel), Raquel Isidoro Silva and Einat Nativ-Roth (The Ilse Katz Institute for Nanoscale Science and Technology Ben-Gurion University of the Negev, Beer Sheva, Israel) for assisting with the STEM and cryo-EM imaging. This work was supported by Israel Science Foundation (ISF-2041/17).
Publisher Copyright:
© 2022, The Author(s).