Project description:Survival of insects on a substrate containing toxic substances such as plant secondary metabolites or insecticides is dependent on the metabolism or excretion of those xenobiotics. The primary sites of xenobiotic metabolism are the midgut, Malpighian tubules and fat body. In general, these organs are treated as single tissues by online databases, but several studies have shown that gene expression within subsections of the midgut is compartmentalized. In this article, RNA sequencing analysis was used to investigate whole-genome expression in subsections of the third-instar larval midgut. The results support functional diversification in subsections of the midgut. Analysis of the expression of gene families that are implicated in the metabolism of xenobiotics suggests that metabolism may not be uniform along the midgut. These data provide a starting point for investigating gene expression and xenobiotic metabolism in the larval midgut.
Project description:Survival of insects on a substrate containing toxic substances such as plant secondary metabolites or insecticides is dependent on the metabolism or excretion of those xenobiotics. The primary sites of xenobiotic metabolism are the midgut, Malpighian tubules and fat body. In general, these organs are treated as single tissues by online databases, but several studies have shown that gene expression within subsections of the midgut is compartmentalized. In this article, RNA sequencing analysis was used to investigate whole-genome expression in subsections of the third-instar larval midgut. The results support functional diversification in subsections of the midgut. Analysis of the expression of gene families that are implicated in the metabolism of xenobiotics suggests that metabolism may not be uniform along the midgut. These data provide a starting point for investigating gene expression and xenobiotic metabolism in the larval midgut. Examination of expression in eight samples corresponding to compartments of gene expression in the midgut
Project description:Circadian rhythms are daily oscillations in metabolism and physiology and are generated by the circadian clock. In fruit fly Drosophila, the circadian clock is generated by a transcription-translation feedback loop in which the positive arm components Clock and Cycle activate the expression of the Period and Timeless genes of negative arm, as well as other circadian clock-regulated genes. After being retained in the cytoplasm, the Period and Timeless proteins then migrate to the nucleus to inhibit the Clock/Cycle transactivity by protein-protein interactions (PPIs). The endogenous circadian clock is synchronized with the geological (solar) clock via photoreceptors. Drosophila Cryptochrome protein functions as a circadian photoreceptor. In the early morning, exposure of Cryptochrome to light causes a conformational change in it which results in the formation of new PPIs. Light-activated Cryptochrome interacts with the core clock protein Timeless and the E3 ubiquitin ligase-substrate adaptor protein Jetlag, which results in the ubiquitylation of Timeless by Jetlag-E3 ligase complex and then degradation of Timeless within minutes by proteasome system. Rapid degradation of Timeless and then its partner protein Period, because of its instability in the absence of Timeless, relieves the inhibition on the Clock/Cycle transcription factors suddenly. Therefore, Clock/Cycle-driven expression of circadian clock-regulated genes are induced again, which is the restart of the circadian oscillation or the resetting of the clock. Following Timeless degradation, Cryptochrome is also degraded so the photoreceptor mechanism does not start a new resetting signal until all the required factors are re-synthesized in a circadian manner. Light-dependent degradation of Drosophila Cryptochrome can be observed in Drosophila S2 cell line in culture. In this project, we aimed at finding the interactome of Cryptochrome protein in Drosophila S2 cell line under light and in the dark using proximity labeling method. Because of the fast kinetics of Cryptochrome degradation, we chose the enzymes that can saturate in less than one hour. TurboID (TID) and APEX2 enzymes label proteins with biotin in the proximity even though they work with different mechanisms. They were fused to Cryptochrome protein, and proximity labeling was performed in the dark or under light. We have identified novel light-dependent or -independent interactors of Drosophila Cryptochrome and confirmed some of them using classical coimmunoprecipitation technique.
Project description:The molecular mechanisms by which stem cell proliferation is precisely controlled during the course of regeneration are poorly understood. Namely, how a damaged tissue senses when to terminate the regeneration process, inactivates stem cell mitotic activity, and organizes ECM integrity remain fundamental unanswered questions. The Drosophila midgut intestinal stem cell (ISC) offers an excellent model system to study the molecular basis for stem cell inactivation. Here we show that a novel gene, CG6967 or dMOV10, is induced at the termination stage of midgut regeneration, and shows an inhibitory effect on ISC proliferation. dMOV10 encodes a putative component of the microRNA (miRNA) gene silencing complex (miRISC). Our data, along with previous studies on the mammalian MOV10, suggest that dMOV10 is not a core member of miRISC, but modulates miRISC activity as an additional component. Further analyses identified direct target mRNAs of dMOV10-containing miRISC, including Daughter against Dpp (Dad), a known inhibitor of BMP/TGF-β signaling. We show that RNAi knockdown of Dad significantly impaired ISC division during regeneration. We also identified miRNAs that are induced at the termination stage and their potential target transcripts. We propose that miRNA-mediated gene regulation contributes to the precise control of Drosophila midgut regeneration.
Project description:The molecular mechanisms by which stem cell proliferation is precisely controlled during the course of regeneration are poorly understood. Namely, how a damaged tissue senses when to terminate the regeneration process, inactivates stem cell mitotic activity, and organizes ECM integrity remain fundamental unanswered questions. The Drosophila midgut intestinal stem cell (ISC) offers an excellent model system to study the molecular basis for stem cell inactivation. Here we show that a novel gene, CG6967 or dMOV10, is induced at the termination stage of midgut regeneration, and shows an inhibitory effect on ISC proliferation. dMOV10 encodes a putative component of the microRNA (miRNA) gene silencing complex (miRISC). Our data, along with previous studies on the mammalian MOV10, suggest that dMOV10 is not a core member of miRISC, but modulates miRISC activity as an additional component. Further analyses identified direct target mRNAs of dMOV10-containing miRISC, including Daughter against Dpp (Dad), a known inhibitor of BMP/TGF-β signaling. We show that RNAi knockdown of Dad significantly impaired ISC division during regeneration. We also identified miRNAs that are induced at the termination stage and their potential target transcripts. We propose that miRNA-mediated gene regulation contributes to the precise control of Drosophila midgut regeneration.
Project description:The molecular mechanisms by which stem cell proliferation is precisely controlled during the course of regeneration are poorly understood. Namely, how a damaged tissue senses when to terminate the regeneration process, inactivates stem cell mitotic activity, and organizes ECM integrity remain fundamental unanswered questions. The Drosophila midgut intestinal stem cell (ISC) offers an excellent model system to study the molecular basis for stem cell inactivation. Here we show that a novel gene, CG6967 or dMOV10, is induced at the termination stage of midgut regeneration, and shows an inhibitory effect on ISC proliferation. dMOV10 encodes a putative component of the microRNA (miRNA) gene silencing complex (miRISC). Our data, along with previous studies on the mammalian MOV10, suggest that dMOV10 is not a core member of miRISC, but modulates miRISC activity as an additional component. Further analyses identified direct target mRNAs of dMOV10-containing miRISC, including Daughter against Dpp (Dad), a known inhibitor of BMP/TGF-β signaling. We show that RNAi knockdown of Dad significantly impaired ISC division during regeneration. We also identified miRNAs that are induced at the termination stage and their potential target transcripts. We propose that miRNA-mediated gene regulation contributes to the precise control of Drosophila midgut regeneration.
Project description:We are investigating the link between metabolism, circadian rhythm, and a high-fat diet with an emphasis on the role of metabolites that affect protein post translational modifications. We've hypothesized that protein modifications, which are critical to circadian clock functions, can be affected by different metabolic profiles, such as an excess or lack of fat in the diet, that ultimately regulate changes in circadian biology.
Project description:We found that the midgut shows striking regional differentiation along its anterior-posterior axis. Ten distinct subregions differ in cell morphology, gene expression and aspects of Notch signaling. RNA from isolated regions that was analyzed by RNAseq revealed spatially regulated expression of hundreds of enzymes and other genes with likely tissue functions. 10 midgut segments comprising from 1-3 subregions x 3 replicates from each segment = 30 samples