Prolonged ovarian storage of mature oocytes dramatically increases meiotic spindle instability.

Human oocytes frequently generate aneuploid embryos that subsequently miscarry. In contrast, oocytes from outbred laboratory stocks develop fully regardless of maternal age. Since mature oocytes are not extensively stored in the ovary under laboratory conditions like they are in the wild, we developed a system to investigate how storage affects oocyte quality.

Dietary Lipids Modulate Notch Signaling and Influence Adult Intestinal Development and Metabolism in Drosophila.

Tissue homeostasis involves a complex balance of developmental signals and environmental cues that dictate stem cell function. We found that dietary lipids control enteroendocrine cell production from Drosophila posterior midgut stem cells. Dietary cholesterol influences new intestinal cell differentiation in an Hr96-dependent manner by altering the level and duration of Notch signaling.