A large-scale functional approach to uncover human genes and pathways in Drosophila.
Journal Article
We demonstrate the feasibility of performing a systematic screen for human gene functions in Drosophila by assaying for their ability to induce overexpression phenotypes. Over 1 500 transgenic fly lines corresponding to 236 human genes have been established. In all, 51 lines are capable of eliciting a phenotype suggesting that the human genes are functional. These heterologous genes are functionally relevant as we have found a similar mutant phenotype caused either by a dominant negative mutant form of the human ribosomal protein L8 gene or by RNAi downregulation of the Drosophila RPL8. Significantly, the Drosophila RPL8 mutant can be rescued by wild-type human RPL8. We also provide genetic evidence that Drosophila RPL8 is a new member of the insulin signaling pathway. In summary, the functions of many human genes appear to be highly conserved, and the ability to identify them in Drosophila represents a powerful genetic tool for large-scale analysis of human transcripts in vivo.
Full Text
Duke Authors
Cited Authors
- Xu, R; Deng, K; Zhu, Y; Wu, Y; Ren, J; Wan, M; Zhao, S; Wu, X; Han, M; Zhuang, Y; Xu, T
Published Date
- November 2008
Published In
Volume / Issue
- 18 / 11
Start / End Page
- 1114 - 1127
PubMed ID
- 18957936
Pubmed Central ID
- 18957936
Electronic International Standard Serial Number (EISSN)
- 1748-7838
Digital Object Identifier (DOI)
- 10.1038/cr.2008.295
Language
- eng
Conference Location
- England