Summary Cellular redox states regulate the balance between stem cell maintenance and activation. Increased levels of intracellular reactive oxygen species (ROS) are linked to proliferation and lineage specification. In contrast to this general principle, we here show that in the hippocampus of adult mice, quiescent neural precursor cells (NPCs) maintain the highest ROS levels (hiROS). Classifying NPCs on the basis of cellular ROS content identified distinct functional states. Shifts in ROS content primed cells for a subsequent state transition, with lower ROS content marking proliferative activity and differentiation. Physical activity, a physiological activator of adult hippocampal neurogenesis, recruited hiROS NPCs into proliferation via a transient Nox2-dependent ROS surge. In the absence of Nox2, baseline neurogenesis was unaffected, but the activity-induced increase in proliferation disappeared. These results provide a metabolic classification of NPC functional states and describe a mechanism linking the modulation of cellular ROS by behavioral cues to the activation of adult NPCs.

Changes in cell metabolism and plasma membrane potential have been linked to shifts between tissue growth and differentiation, and to developmental patterning. How such changes mediate these effects is poorly understood. Here, we use the developing wing of Drosophila to investigate the interplay between cell metabolism and a key developmental regulator—the Hedgehog (Hh) signalling pathway. We show that reducing glycolysis both lowers steady‐state levels of ATP and stabilizes Smoothened (Smo), the 7‐pass transmembrane protein that transduces the Hh signal. As a result, the transcription factor Cubitus interruptus accumulates in its full‐length, transcription activating form. We show that glycolysis is required to maintain the plasma membrane potential and that plasma membrane depolarization blocks cellular uptake of N‐acylethanolamides—lipoprotein‐borne Hh pathway inhibitors required for Smo destabilization. Similarly, pharmacological inhibition of glycolysis in mammalian cells induces ciliary translocation of Smo—a key step in pathway activation—in the absence of Hh. Thus, changes in cell metabolism alter Hh signalling through their effects on plasma membrane potential.