External Seminar by Julia Cordero, Wolfson Wohl Cancer Research Centre, Glasgow, UK; "Cellular diversity and multi-tissue interactions regulate plasticity in the regenerating intestine."

The intestine is a highly plastic and specialised organ.  How does the intestine customises its responses to the diverse range of daily stimuli that challenge its homeostatic status? The answer likely lies within the tightly coordinated dialogue between stem cells and their microenvironment. Consistently, addressing this fundamental question requires research on in vivo model systems that account for the complex inter-cellular and inter-tissue signalling between the gut epithelium and its natural environment. The fruit fly Drosophila melanogaster has been a prime in vivo model system for the study of multi-organ communication involving the gut. During my presentation, I will discuss our work on the adult fly midgut and how it has led to the discovery of the importance of cellular diversity as well region and/or context specific changes within the intestinal epithelium and its microenvironment as key determinants of the robust and tailored regenerative responses of the adult intestine.