Fat Body Cells Are Motile and Actively Migrate to Wounds to Drive Repair and Prevent Infection

Publication date: 26 February 2018
Source:Developmental Cell, Volume 44, Issue 4
Author(s): Anna Franz, Will Wood, Paul Martin
Adipocytes have many functions in various tissues beyond energy storage, including regulating metabolism, growth, and immunity. However, little is known about their role in wound healing. Here we use live imaging of fat body cells, the equivalent of vertebrate adipocytes in Drosophila, to investigate their potential behaviors and functions following skin wounding. We find that pupal fat body cells are not immotile, as previously presumed, but actively migrate to wounds using an unusual adhesion-independent, actomyosin-driven, peristaltic mode of motility. Once at the wound, fat body cells collaborate with hemocytes, Drosophila macrophages, to clear the wound of cell debris; they also tightly seal the epithelial wound gap and locally release antimicrobial peptides to fight wound infection. Thus, fat body cells are motile cells, enabling them to migrate to wounds to undertake several local functions needed to drive wound repair and prevent infections.

Teaser

Adipocytes and their fly equivalent, fat body cells, have been considered immotile, but Franz et al. now show the latter can actively migrate to wounds using a peristaltic-like "swimming" motility. Once there, they multitask to clear wound cell debris, plug the epithelial gap, and upregulate AMPs to prevent infection.


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