Dmp53 is sequestered to nuclear bodies in spermatogonia of Drosophila melanogaster.

p53 family members have been implicated in regulation of genomic integrity and apoptosis in a variety of tissues. The Drosophila family member, Dmp53, primarily functions to regulate apoptosis in developing and regenerating tissues but loss of function mutants are viable and fertile. Dmp53 exhibits a striking expression pattern in the male germline with high levels found in nuclear bodies in pre-meiotic germ cells. The localisation of Dmp53 to nuclear bodies is dependent upon Dmp53 complexes being able to bind DNA, and although dmp53 mutants do not affect germline stem cell (GSC) maintenance or differentiation, GSCs are sensitive to overexpression of Dmp53 but maturing spermatogonia are not. Dmp53 thus has differential effects depending upon the stage of male germline maturation.