Synaptic development & maintenance. Recent report.

On my desk to read today? This report of fly RNAi interrogation of about 2000 genes.

Valakh V, Naylor SA, Berns DS, DiAntonio A. A large-scale RNAi screen identifies functional classes of genes shaping synaptic development and maintenance. Dev Biol. 2012 Jun 15;366(2):163-71. PMID: 22542760; PMCID: PMC3358632.

From the abstract:  "... genes with essential roles in non-neural tissues may be missed in traditional loss-of-function screens. In an effort to circumvent this limitation, we used neuron-specific RNAi knock down in Drosophila and assayed the formation, growth, and maintenance of the neuromuscular junction (NMJ). We examined 1970 Drosophila genes, each of which has a conserved ortholog in mammalian genomes. Knock down of 158 genes in post-mitotic neurons led to abnormalities in the neuromuscular system ..."