Developmental Cell
Volume 44, Issue 4, 26 February 2018, Pages 460-470.e3
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Article
Fat Body Cells Are Motile and Actively Migrate to Wounds to Drive Repair and Prevent Infection

https://doi.org/10.1016/j.devcel.2018.01.026Get rights and content
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Highlights

  • Fat body cells actively migrate to wounds using a peristaltic mode of motility

  • Fat body cells tightly seal the gap by forming lamellipodia around the wound margin

  • Fat body cells collaborate with macrophages to clear wound debris

  • Fat body cells locally release antimicrobial peptides at infected wounds

Summary

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.

Keywords

adipocytes
fat body
Drosophila
cell migration
wound healing
wound infection
antimicrobial peptides (AMPs)
hemocytes
inflammatory response

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Present address: Medical Research Council Center for Inflammation Research, Queen's Medical Research Institute, University of Edinburgh, Edinburgh EH16 4TJ, UK

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