Tuesday, January 24, 2017

RNAi and proteomics study identifies glial genes required for behavior

Ng FS, Sengupta S, Huang Y, Yu AM, You S, Roberts MA, Iyer LK, Yang Y, Jackson FR. TRAP-seq Profiling and RNAi-Based Genetic Screens Identify Conserved Glial Genes Required for Adult Drosophila Behavior. Front Mol Neurosci. 2016 Dec 22;9:146. PMID: 28066175; PMCID: PMC5177635.

From the abstract: "... Glial astrocytes and glia-neuron signaling ... have important modulatory functions in sleep, circadian behavior, memory and plasticity. To better understand mechanisms of glia-neuron signaling in the context of behavior, we have conducted cell-specific, genome-wide expression profiling of adult Drosophila astrocyte-like brain cells and performed RNA interference (RNAi)-based genetic screens ... Glial-specific expression of 653 RNAi constructs targeting 318 genes identified multiple factors associated with altered locomotor activity, circadian rhythmicity and/or responses to mechanical stress (bang sensitivity). ... These results strongly support the idea that glia-neuron communication is vital for adult behavior."