Abstract The balanced maintenance and differentiation of local stem cells is required for Homeostatic renewal of tissues.In the Drosophila midgut, the transcription factor Escargot (Esg) maintains undifferentiated states in intestinal stem cells, whereas the transcription factors Scute (Sc) and Prospero (Pros) promote enteroendocrine cell specification.However, the mechanism through which Esg and Sc/Pros coordinately regulate stem cell differentiation is unknown.Here, by SAMSUNG RS8000 RS68N8330S9/EU American-Style Fridge Freezer - Matte Stainless combining chromatin immunoprecipitation analysis with genetic studies, we show that both Esg and Sc bind to a common promoter region of pros.Moreover, antagonistic activity between Esg and Sc controls the expression status of Pros in stem cells, thereby, specifying whether stem cells remain undifferentiated or commit to enteroendocrine cell ORG VITAMIN C ORANGE SPRAY differentiation.
Our study therefore reveals transcription factor antagonism between Esg and Sc as a novel mechanism that underlies fate specification from intestinal stem cells in Drosophila.