Aberrant activation of the JAK–STAT pathway has been implicated in many human cancers. It has widely been assumed that the effects of STAT activation are mediated by direct transcriptional induction of STAT target genes. However, recent findings in Drosophila have identified a non-canonical mode of JAK–STAT signaling, which directly controls heterochromatin stability. This indicates that the JAK–STAT pathway also controls cellular epigenetic status, which affects expression of genes beyond those under direct STAT transcriptional control. Given the evolutionary conservation of the canonical pathway among different species, the non-canonical mode of JAK–STAT signaling might also operate in vertebrates. In this review, canonical versus non-canonical JAK–STAT signaling and the implications for gene regulation and cancer formation are discussed.

Organismal aging is influenced by a multitude of intrinsic and extrinsic factors, and heterochromatin loss has been proposed to be one of the causes of aging. However, the role of heterochromatin in animal aging has been controversial. Here we show that heterochromatin formation prolongs lifespan and controls ribosomal RNA synthesis in Drosophila. Animals with decreased heterochromatin levels exhibit a dramatic shortening of lifespan, whereas increasing heterochromatin prolongs lifespan. The changes in lifespan are associated with changes in muscle integrity. Furthermore, we show that heterochromatin levels decrease with normal aging and that heterochromatin formation is essential for silencing rRNA transcription. Loss of epigenetic silencing and loss of stability of the rDNA locus have previously been implicated in aging of yeast. Taken together, these results suggest that epigenetic preservation of genome stability, especially at the rDNA locus, and repression of unnecessary rRNA synthesis, might be an evolutionarily conserved mechanism for prolonging lifespan.

Reduced protein kinase A (PKA) activity in anterior imaginal disc cells leads to cell-autonomous induction of decapentaplegic (dpp), wingless (wg), and patched (ptc) transcription that is independent of hedgehog (hh) gene activity. The resulting nonautonomous adult wing and leg pattern duplications are largely due to induced dpp and wg expression and resemble phenotypes elicited by ectopic hh expression. Inhibition of PKA in anterior cells close to the posterior compartment can substitute for hh activity to promote growth of imaginal discs, whereas overexpression of PKA can counteract transcriptional induction of ptc by hh in these cells. PKA therefore appears to be an integral component of the mechanism by which hh regulates the expression of key patterning molecules in imaginal discs.

The JAK/STAT pathway has pleiotropic roles in animal development, and its aberrant activation is implicated in multiple human cancers [1][2][3] . JAK/STAT signaling effects have been attributed largely to direct transcriptional regulation by STAT of specific target genes that promote tumor cell proliferation or survival. We show here in a Drosophila melanogaster hematopoietic tumor model, however, that JAK overactivation globally disrupts heterochromatic gene silencing, an epigenetic tumor suppressive mechanism 4 . This disruption allows derepression of genes that are not direct targets of STAT, as evidenced by suppression of heterochromatin-mediated position effect variegation. Moreover, mutations in the genes encoding heterochromatin components heterochromatin protein 1 (HP1) and Su(var)3-9 enhance tumorigenesis induced by an oncogenic JAK kinase without affecting JAK/STAT signaling. Consistently, JAK loss of function enhances heterochromatic gene silencing, whereas overexpressing HP1 suppresses oncogenic JAK-induced tumors. These results demonstrate that the JAK/STAT pathway regulates cellular epigenetic status and that globally disrupting heterochromatin-mediated tumor suppression is essential for tumorigenesis induced by JAK overactivation.The D. melanogaster genome contains a single JAK, named Hopscotch (Hop), and a single STAT, STAT92E, that are most similar to JAK2 and STAT5, respectively [5][6][7] . Hop and STAT92E function in a canonical JAK/STAT pathway, mediating cell proliferation, differentiation and migration in a variety of developmental processes [7][8][9] . Tumorous-lethal (Tum-l) is an oncogenic allele of hop and encodes a hyperactive JAK kinase due to a G341E substitution [10][11][12] . hop Tum-l is associated with high incidence of hematopoietic tumors in heterozygous animals, a leukemia-like phenotype. These tumors manifest as melanotic masses of blood cell aggregates in the larval or adult body cavity, resulting from overproliferation and differentiation of particular blood cell types 10,11 . It has been shown that Tum-l induces hematopoietic tumors by overactivating STAT92E, as STAT92E is hyperphosphorylated by Hop Tum-l , and that reducing the gene dosage of STAT92E suppresses Tum-l tumorigenicity 5,6,13 . Classical genetic screens and genome-wide RNA interference (RNAi) analyses in D. melanogaster have led to the identification of many components involved in the JAK/STAT pathway or in its modulation 5,6,[13][14][15] . However, as Author Contributions: The initial Df screen was performed by H.C.C., J.L. and L.L.; identification of modifier genes and phenotype assessment were performed by S.S.; F.X. contributed to the protein blot analysis. W.X.L. designed the study and wrote the paper. Competing Interests Statement:The authors declare that they have no competing financial interests. In order to understand how overactivation of the JAK/STAT pathway causes hematopoietic tumors, we undertook a genetic screen to identify genes important for the tumorigenicity of hop Tum-l . We first...

STAT (Signal transducer and activator of transcription) is a potent transcription factor and its aberrant activation by phosphorylation is associated with human cancers [1][2][3][4] . We have shown previously that overactivation of JAK, which phosphorylates STAT 5,6 , disrupts heterochromatin formation globally in Drosophila melanogaster 7 . However, it remains unclear how this effect is mediated and whether STAT is involved. Here, we demonstrate that Drosophila STAT (STAT92E) is involved in controlling heterochromatin protein 1 (HP1) distribution and heterochromatin stability. We found, unexpectedly, that loss of STAT92E, had the same effects as overactivation of JAK in disrupting heterochromatin formation and heterochromatic gene silencing, whereas overexpression of STAT92E had the opposite effects. We have further shown that the unphosphorylated or 'transcriptionally inactive' form of STAT92E is localized on heterochromatin in association with HP1, and is required for stabilizing HP1 localization and histone H3 Lys 9 methylation (H3mK9). However, activation by phosphorylation reduces heterochromatin-associated STAT92E, causing HP1 displacement and heterochromatin destabilization. Thus, reducing levels of unphosphorylated STAT92E, either by loss of STAT92E or increased phosphorylation, causes heterochromatin instability. These results suggest that activation of STAT by phosphorylation controls both access to chromatin and activity of the transcription machinery.To understand the molecular mechanism underlying JAK/STAT-mediated tumour formation, we have previously investigated the role of JAK in a Drosophila leukaemia model, in which a hyperactive mutant form of JAK (Tum-1) causes leukaemia-like overproliferation of blood cells 5,8 . We have demonstrated that oncogenic JAK disrupts heterochromatin formation globally, allowing transcriptional activation of genes that are not necessarily direct targets of STAT 7,9 . The molecular mechanism underlying the effects of Hopscotch (Hop, Drosophila JAK) on heterochromatin remains unclear. It may be mediated by phosphorylation of STAT92E, as in the canonical JAK/STAT pathway 10,11 . Alternatively, Hop may activate cellular targets other than STAT92E 9 .To investigate whether disruption of heterochromatin induced by Hop-activation 7 is mediated by STAT92E, we examined the effects of reducing stat92E + dosage on heterochromatic gene silencing, which can be measured by position-effect variegation (PEV) 12 We next examined the epistatic relationship between HP1 and STAT92E ( Fig. 1d-k). HP1, encoded by Su(var)205, is a constitutive component of heterochromatin and is essential for heterochromatic gene silencing 12,13 . Consistent with the results described above, we found that increasing stat92E + dosage by a chromosomal duplication (referred to as 3 × stat92E + , Fig. 1f) or a stat92E + transgene ( Supplementary Information, Fig. S1) enhanced heterochromatic gene silencing, resulting in complete silencing of the variegated white + gene. This effect was antagonized,...

Homeobox genes specify cell fate and positional identity in embryos throughout the animal kingdom. Paradoxically, although each has a specific function in vivo, the in vitro DNA-binding specificities of homeodomain proteins are overlapping and relatively weak. A current model is that homeodomain proteins interact with cofactors that increase specificity in vivo. Here we use a native binding site for the homeodomain protein Fushi tarazu (Ftz) to isolate Ftz-F1, a protein of the nuclear hormone-receptor superfamily and a new Ftz cofactor. Ftz and Ftz-F1 are present in a complex in Drosophila embryos. Ftz-F1 facilitates the binding of Ftz to DNA, allowing interactions with weak-affinity sites at concentrations of Ftz that alone bind only high-affinity sites. Embryos lacking Ftz-F1 display ftz-like pair-rule cuticular defects. This phenotype is a result of abnormal ftz function because it is expressed but fails to activate downstream target genes. Cooperative interaction between homeodomain proteins and cofactors of different classes may serve as a general mechanism to increase HOX protein specificity and to broaden the range of target sites they regulate.

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Primordial germ cells (PGCs) undergo proliferation, invasion, guided migration, and aggregation to form the gonad. Here we show that in Drosophila, the receptor tyrosine kinase Torso activates both STAT and Ras during the early phase of PGC development, and coactivation of STAT and Ras is required for PGC proliferation and invasive migration. Embryos mutant for stat92E or Ras1 have fewer PGCs, and these cells migrate slowly, errantly, and fail to coalesce. Conversely, overactivation of these molecules causes supernumerary PGCs, their premature transit through the gut epithelium, and ectopic colonization. A requirement for RTK in Drosophila PGC development is analogous to the mouse, in which the RTK c-kit is required, suggesting a conserved molecular mechanism governing PGC behavior in flies and mammals.