Project description:We used an improved INTACT (Isolation of Nuclei Tagged in A specific Cell Type) technique to isolate RNA from purified nuclei from different neuronal populations of the Drosophila brain. Using microfluidic multiplex PCR and sequencing (mmPCR-seq), we determined gene expression and A-to-I RNA editing levels at editing sites across nine distinct neuronal sub-populations and a pan-neuronal control.
Project description:We used an improved INTACT (Isolation of Nuclei Tagged in A specific Cell Type) technique to isolate RNA from purified nuclei from different neuronal populations of the Drosophila brain. Using RNA-seq, we determined gene expression and A-to-I RNA editing levels at editing sites across nine distinct neuronal sub-populations and a pan-neuronal control.
Project description:Adenosine-to-inosine (A-to-I) RNA editing, catalyzed by ADAR enzymes, is a ubiquitous mechanism that generates transcriptomic diversity. This process is particularly important for proper neuronal function; however, little is known about how RNA editing is dynamically regulated between the many functionally distinct neuronal populations of the brain. Here, we present a spatial RNA editing map in the Drosophila brain and show that different neuronal populations possess distinct RNA editing signatures. After purifying and sequencing RNA from genetically marked groups of neuronal nuclei, we identified a large number of editing sites and compared editing levels in hundreds of transcripts across nine functionally different neuronal populations. We found distinct editing repertoires for each population, including sites in repeat regions of the transcriptome and differential editing in highly conserved and likely functional regions of transcripts that encode essential neuronal genes. These changes are site-specific and not driven by changes in Adar expression, suggesting a complex, targeted regulation of editing levels in key transcripts. This fine-tuning of the transcriptome between different neurons by RNA editing may account for functional differences between distinct populations in the brain.
