in vivo RNAi screen related to cholesterol and steroid hormones

Danielsen ET, Moeller ME, Yamanaka N, Ou Q, Laursen JM, Soenderholm C, Zhuo R, Phelps B, Tang K, Zeng J, Kondo S, Nielsen CH, Harvald EB, Faergeman NJ, Haley MJ, O'Connor KA, King-Jones K, O'Connor MB, Rewitz KF. A Drosophila Genome-Wide Screen Identifies Regulators of Steroid Hormone Production and Developmental Timing. Dev Cell. 2016 Jun 20;37(6):558-70. PMID: 27326933; PMCID: PMC4918455.

From the abstract: "Steroid hormones control important developmental processes and are linked to many diseases. To systematically identify genes and pathways required for steroid production, we performed a Drosophila genome-wide in vivo RNAi screen and identified 1,906 genes with potential roles in steroidogenesis and developmental timing. Here, we use our screen as a resource to identify mechanisms regulating intracellular levels of cholesterol, a substrate for steroidogenesis. ... In addition, we demonstrate the existence of an autophagosomal cholesterol mobilization mechanism and show that activation of this system rescues Niemann-Pick type C1 deficiency that causes a disorder characterized by cholesterol accumulation. ... These results reveal genes regulating steroidogenesis during development that likely modulate disease mechanisms."