Regulating glial morphogenesis: insights from Drosophila

Glia are critical cellular components of the nervous system. Their morphogenesis during development is an important process that ensures formation of a functional nervous system in the adult organism. Drosophila melanogaster has been used extensively as a model to study the cellular and molecular mechanisms underlying glial development primarily because of the presence of different types of glia that are functionally analogous those found in vertebrates. In this review, we summarize and discuss signalling pathways that drive glial morphogenesis in Drosophila with a focus on those that regulate shape during development. We systematically discuss the different types of glia, their origin, function and signalling mechanisms that operate to regulate the ‘form-function’ relationship across development. We conclude by drawing attention to questions that need to be addressed, and the signalling pathways that need to be explored in this context which has implications to both, development and disease.