Primary cell screen performed at DRSC explores autophagy in muscles--relevance to glycogen storage disorders

Zirin J, Nieuwenhuis J, Samsonova A, Tao R, Perrimon N. Regulators of autophagosome formation in Drosophila muscles. PLoS Genet. 2015 Feb 18;11(2):e1005006. PMID: 25692684.

From the abstract: "... We used a primary myocyte cell culture system to assay the role of putative autophagy regulators in the specific context of skeletal muscle. By treating the cultures with rapamycin (Rap) and chloroquine (CQ) we induced an autophagic response, fully suppressible by knockdown of core ATG genes. We screened D. melanogaster orthologs of a previously reported mammalian autophagy protein-protein interaction network, identifying several proteins required for autophagosome formation in muscle cells ... The screen also highlighted the critical roles of the proteasome and glycogen metabolism in regulating autophagy. ... In addition, analyses of glycogen metabolic genes in both primary cultured and larval muscles indicated that glycogen storage enhances the autophagic response to starvation, an important insight given the link between glycogen storage disorders, autophagy, and muscle function."

The DRSC autophagy library used in the screen is one of several focused libraries available from the Drosophila RNAi Screening Center for on-site or off-site screens.