{"status":"ok","message-type":"work","message-version":"1.0.0","message":{"indexed":{"date-parts":[[2026,2,24]],"date-time":"2026-02-24T12:23:39Z","timestamp":1771935819354,"version":"3.50.1"},"reference-count":58,"publisher":"Frontiers Media SA","license":[{"start":{"date-parts":[[2026,2,18]],"date-time":"2026-02-18T00:00:00Z","timestamp":1771372800000},"content-version":"vor","delay-in-days":0,"URL":"https:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by\/4.0\/"}],"content-domain":{"domain":["frontiersin.org"],"crossmark-restriction":true},"short-container-title":["Front. Cell Dev. Biol."],"abstract":"<jats:p>\n                    The\n                    <jats:italic>Drosophila<\/jats:italic>\n                    TRIM-NHL family RNA-binding protein Mei-P26 has been implicated in suppressing tumorigenesis in the female germline. By restricting growth and proliferation while promoting differentiation within the ovarian stem cell lineage, Mei-P26 maintains germline homeostasis. Whether it plays comparable or distinct roles in the testis during spermatogenesis, however, remains unclear. Here we show that overexpression of\n                    <jats:italic>mei-P26<\/jats:italic>\n                    in germline cells leads to truncated, agametic testes. These testes display germline cell cycle arrest and defective somatic cyst cell proliferation and differentiation, highlighting a failure in germline-soma coordination. By contrast, somatic overexpression of\n                    <jats:italic>mei-P26<\/jats:italic>\n                    results in male-specific lethality. With the\n                    <jats:italic>Gal80<\/jats:italic>\n                    <jats:sup>\n                      <jats:italic>ts<\/jats:italic>\n                    <\/jats:sup>\n                    system to circumvent this lethality, induction of\n                    <jats:italic>mei-P26<\/jats:italic>\n                    in adult somatic cells promoted proliferation and differentiation of both germline and somatic cells, accompanied by upregulation of phospho-S6, indicating hyperactivation of the TOR signaling pathway. Our findings reveal that Mei-P26 exerts opposing, cell type-specific roles within the same tissue, restraining germline development while driving expansion of somatic cells. This study underscores the importance of cell-specific regulation by RNA-binding proteins and provides new insights into how misregulation of Mei-P26 may coordinate divergent cell fates within a shared tissue context-processes frequently disrupted in cancer, developmental disorders, and age-associated tissue decline.\n                  <\/jats:p>","DOI":"10.3389\/fcell.2026.1739650","type":"journal-article","created":{"date-parts":[[2026,2,18]],"date-time":"2026-02-18T05:34:05Z","timestamp":1771392845000},"update-policy":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.3389\/crossmark-policy","source":"Crossref","is-referenced-by-count":0,"title":["Divergent functions of the RNA-binding protein, Mei-P26 in germline and somatic lineages of Drosophila testis"],"prefix":"10.3389","volume":"14","author":[{"given":"Shallinie","family":"Thangadurai","sequence":"first","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Comparative Biomedical Sciences, School of Veterinary Medicine, Louisiana State University","place":["Baton Rouge, LA, United States"]}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"given":"Elena S.","family":"Pak","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Comparative Biomedical Sciences, School of Veterinary Medicine, Louisiana State University","place":["Baton Rouge, LA, United States"]}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"given":"Alexander K.","family":"Murashov","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Comparative Biomedical Sciences, School of Veterinary Medicine, Louisiana State University","place":["Baton Rouge, LA, United States"]}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]}],"member":"1965","published-online":{"date-parts":[[2026,2,18]]},"reference":[{"key":"B1","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"e1005815","DOI":"10.1371\/journal.pgen.1005815","article-title":"Socs36E controls niche competition by repressing MAPK signaling in the Drosophila testis","volume":"12","author":"Amoyel","year":"","journal-title":"PLOS Genet."},{"key":"B2","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"3914","DOI":"10.1242\/dev.139782","article-title":"Somatic stem cell differentiation is regulated by PI3K\/Tor signaling in response to local cues","volume":"143","author":"Amoyel","year":"","journal-title":"Development"},{"key":"B3","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"97","DOI":"10.1016\/j.ydbio.2019.06.020","article-title":"Spargel\/dPGC-1 is essential for oogenesis and nutrient-mediated ovarian growth in drosophila","volume":"454","author":"Basar","year":"2019","journal-title":"Dev. 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