JAK/STAT signalling mediates cell survival in response to tissue stress

Tissue homeostasis relies on the ability of tissues to respond to stress. Tissue regeneration and tumour models in Drosophila have shown that c-Jun amino-terminal kinase (JNK) acts as a prominent stress-response pathway promoting injury-induced apoptosis and compensatory proliferation. A central question remaining unanswered is how both responses are balanced by activation of a single pathway. Signalling through the Janus kinase/Signal transducers and activators of transcription (JAK/STAT) pathway, which is a potential JNK target, is implicated in promoting compensatory proliferation. While we observe JAK/STAT activation in imaginal discs upon damage, our data demonstrate that JAK/STAT and its downstream effector Zfh2 promote the survival of JNK signalling cells. The JNK component fos and the pro-apoptotic gene hid are regulated in a JAK/STAT-dependent manner. This molecular pathway restrains JNK-induced apoptosis and spatial propagation of JNK signalling, thereby limiting the extent of tissue damage, as well as facilitating systemic and proliferative responses to injury. We find that the pro-survival function of JAK/STAT also drives tumour growth under conditions of chronic stress. Our study defines the function of JAK/STAT in tissue stress and illustrates how crosstalk between conserved signalling pathways establishes an intricate equilibrium between proliferation, apoptosis and survival to restore tissue homeostasis.