A08

Wnt pathway specificity in niche-stem cell control

Funding period: 2021-2029

Project A08

Project Leaders

Dr. Josephine Bageritz

 Project Leader A08

Prof. Dr. Ingrid Lohmann

 Project Leader A08

Abstract

Wnt signaling is essential for stem cell regulation, yet how it achieves specificity and robustness across different stem cell populations remains poorly understood. We study two Drosophila stem cell niches to elucidate how context-dependent Wnt codes, defined by ligand-receptor combinations, and output codes, defined by the specific transcriptional and cellular responses, are shaped by ligand-receptor interactions, transcriptional regulation, and cross-talk with other pathways. Through comparative and functional analyses, we aim to uncover how Wnt signaling integrates developmental and niche-derived cues to produce precise, robust, and reproducible stem cell behaviors in dynamic tissue environments.

Project-related Publications

Dissecting the enhancer gene regulatory network in early Drosophila spermatogenesis

van Nierop Y Sanchez P, Sekhar PS, Yildirim K, Lange T, Kreplin LZ, Boopathy VM, Rosswag de Souza S, Dammer K, Ibberson D, Wang Q, Domsch K, Stokkermans A, Pandey S, Kaspar P, Martinez-Gallegos R, Gao X, Singh A, Engel N, Port F, Boutros M, Bageritz J, Lohmann I. Nat Commun. 2025 Jul 23;16(1):6766. doi: 10.1038/s41467-025-62046-9.

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Developmental signals control chromosome segregation fidelity during pluripotency and neurogenesis by modulating replicative stress

de Jaime-Soguero A, Hattemer J, Bufe A, Haas A, van den Berg J, van Batenburg V, Das B, di Marco B, Androulaki S, Böhly N, Landry JJM, Schoell B, Rosa VS, Villacorta L, Baskan Y, Trapp M, Benes V, Chabes A, Shahbazi M, Jauch A, Engel U, Patrizi A, Sotillo R, van Oudenaarden A, Bageritz J, Alfonso J, Bastians H, Acebrón SP. Nat Commun. 2024 Aug 28;15(1):7404. doi: 10.1038/s41467-024-51821-9. PMID: 39191776

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Glyoxal as alternative fixative for single cell RNA sequencing

Bageritz J, Krausse N, Yousefian S, Leible S, Valentini E, Boutros M. G3 (Bethesda). 2023 Jul 26:jkad160. doi: 10.1093/g3journal/jkad160. Online ahead of print. PMID: 37494060

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Analysis of Single-Cell Transcriptome Data in Drosophila

Yousefian S, Musillo MJ, Bageritz J. Methods Mol Biol. 2022;2540:93-111. doi: 10.1007/978-1-0716-2541-5_4. PMID: 35980574

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The molecular logic of synaptic wiring at the single cell level

Velten, J., R. Agarwal, P. van Nierop y Sanchez, L. Bognar, M. Paulsen, L. Velten, and I. Lohmann. 2021. bioRxiv, preprint.

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Closing the gap: a roadmap to single-cell regulatory genomics

Carnesecchi J, Lohmann I. Mol Syst Biol. 2020 May;16(5):e9497. doi: 10.15252/msb.20209497. PMID: 32430985

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ATF4-induced Warburg Metabolism drives Over-proliferation in Drosophila

Sorge S, Theelke J, Yildirim K, Hertenstein H, McMullen E, Müller S, Altbürger C, Schirmeier S, Lohmann I. Cell Rep. 2020 May 19;31(7):107659. doi: 10.1016/j.celrep.2020.107659. PMID: 32433968

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Multi-level and lineage-specific interactomes of the Hox transcription factor Ubx contribute to its functional specificity

Carnesecchi J, Sigismondo G, Domsch K, Baader CEP, Rafiee MR, Krijgsveld J, Lohmann I. Nat Commun. 2020 Mar 13;11(1):1388. doi: 10.1038/s41467-020-15223-x. PMID: 32170121

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Gene expression atlas of a developing tissue by single cell expression correlation analysis

Bageritz J, Willnow P, Valentini E, Leible S, Boutros M, Teleman AA. Nat Methods. 2019 Aug;16(8):750-756. doi: 10.1038/s41592-019-0492-x. Epub 2019 Jul 29. PMID: 31363221

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Single-Cell RNA Sequencing with Drop-Seq

Bageritz J, Raddi G. Methods Mol Biol. 2019;1979:73-85. doi: 10.1007/978-1-4939-9240-9_6.
PMID: 31028633

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WEADE: a workflow for enrichment analysis and data exploration

Trost N, Rempel E, Ermakova O, Tamirisa S, Pârcălăbescu L, Boutros M, Lohmann JU, Lohmann I. PLoS One. 2018 Sep 28;13(9):e0204016. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0204016. eCollection 2018. PMID: 30265728

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Decoding the regulatory logic of the Drosophila male stem cell system

Tamirisa S, Papagiannouli F, Rempel E, Ermakova O, Trost N, Zhou J, Mundorf J, Brunel S, Ruhland N, Boutros M, Lohmann JU, Lohmann I. Cell Rep. 2018 Sep 11;24(11):3072-3086. doi: 10.1016/j.celrep.2018.08.013. PMID: 30208329

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Stk33 is required for spermatid differentiation and male fertility in mice

Martins LR, Bung RK, Koch S, Richter K, Schwarzmüller L, Terhardt D, Kurtulmus B, Niehrs C, Rouhi A, Lohmann I, Pereira G, Fröhling S, Glimm H, Scholl C. Dev Biol. 2018 Jan 1;433(1):84-93. doi: 10.1016/j.ydbio.2017.11.007. Epub 2017 Nov 16. PMID: 29155043

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The Hox gene Abd-B controls stem cell niche function in the Drosophila testis

Papagiannouli F, Schardt L, Grajcarek J, Ha N, Lohmann I. Dev Cell. 2014 Jan 27;28(2):189-202. doi: 10.1016/j.devcel.2013.12.016. PMID: 24480643

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