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Identification of regulators of the Wnt signaling pathway using a genetic screen in Drosophila melanogaster
Author(s) -
Jack Jessica,
Engelhardt Nicole,
Kennell Jennifer A.
Publication year - 2010
Publication title -
the faseb journal
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.709
H-Index - 277
eISSN - 1530-6860
pISSN - 0892-6638
DOI - 10.1096/fasebj.24.1_supplement.712.3
Subject(s) - wnt signaling pathway , drosophila melanogaster , biology , microbiology and biotechnology , gene , signal transduction , transgene , transcription factor , genetics , genetic screen , phenotype
The Wnt signaling pathway is crucial because it controls the transcription of genes that are necessary for animal development; however, regulation of this pathway is not fully understood. Therefore, we conducted a genetic screen with the goal of identifying new genes that regulate the Wnt pathway in the fruit fly, Drosophila melanogaster . We generated transgenic fly lines to randomly mis‐express genes in the eye; these lines were then screened for their ability to negatively regulate the Wnt pathway. We initially found 78 potential Wnt regulators; however, a secondary screen was necessary because the primary screen potentially yielded negative regulators of either Wnt signaling or apoptosis. To specifically select for Wnt regulators, we crossed the potential candidates with lines that promoted apoptosis in the eyes. Wnt regulators were then identified by their inability to prevent cell death. We performed inverse PCR to determine the identity of mis‐expressed genes that tested positive as Wnt regulators in both screens. In the future, we plan to investigate the potential role of these genes in the regulation of Wnt signaling.