assessment-of-chemical-toxicity-in-adult-drosophila-melanogaster

Assessment of Chemical Toxicity in Adult <em>Drosophila Melanogaster</em>

Human industries generate hundreds of thousands of chemicals, many of which have not been adequately studied for environmental safety or effects on human ...

Indiana University

The  adult midgut is a model epithelial tissue composed of a few major cell types with distinct regional identities. One of the limitations to its analysis is the lack of tools to manipulate gene expression based on these regional identities. To overcome this obstacle, we applied the intersectional split-GAL4 system to the adult midgut and report 653 driver combinations that label cells by region and cell type. We first identified 424 split-GAL4 drivers with midgut expression from ∼7300 drivers screened, and then evaluated the expression patterns of each of these 424 when paired with three reference drivers that report activity specifically in progenitor cells, enteroendocrine cells, or enterocytes. We also evaluated a subset of the drivers expressed in progenitor cells for expression in enteroblasts using another reference driver. We show that driver combinations can define novel cell populations by identifying a driver that marks a distinct subset of enteroendocrine cells expressing genes usually associated with progenitor cells. The regional cell type patterns associated with the entire set of driver combinations are documented in a freely available website, providing information for the design of thousands of additional driver combinations to experimentally manipulate small subsets of intestinal cells. In addition, we show that intestinal enhancers identified with the split-GAL4 system can confer equivalent expression patterns on other transgenic reporters. Altogether, the resource reported here will enable more precisely targeted gene expression for studying intestinal processes, epithelial cell functions, and diseases affecting self-renewing tissues.

Identification of Split-GAL4 Drivers and Enhancers That Allow Regional Cell Type Manipulations of the  Intestine.

The Drosophila melanogaster midgut is commonly studied as a model epithelial tissue for many reasons, one of which is the presence of a diverse population of secretory cells called enteroendocrine cells. Subpopulations of these cells secrete various combinations of peptide hormones which have systemic effects on the organism. Many of these hormones are also produced in the Drosophila brain. The split-GAL4 system has been useful for identifying and manipulating discrete groups of cells, but previously characterized split-GAL4 drivers have not driven expression in high proportions of enteroendocrine cells. In this study, we screened candidate split-GAL4 drivers for enteroendocrine cell expression using known reference drivers for this cell type and discovered a new split-GAL4 driver pair that confers expression in a greater number of enteroendocrine cells than previously characterized driver pairs. The new pair demonstrates less brain expression, thereby providing better tools for disentangling the physiological roles of gut- and brain-secreted peptides. We also identified additional split-GAL4 drivers that promote expression in discrete subpopulations of enteroendocrine cells. Overall, the tools reported here will help researchers better target enteroendocrine cell subpopulations.

Identification of novel split-GAL4 drivers for the characterization of enteroendocrine cells in the Drosophila melanogaster midgut.

In  , hormone-secreting enteroendocrine cells are important for communication from the midgut to other tissues. Many lexA, GAL4, and split-GAL4 drivers that direct gene expression in enteroendocrine cells also confer expression in hormone-secreting cells of the central nervous system. This study examines the midgut expression of selected lexA, GAL4, and split-GAL4 transgenes carrying enhancer fragments previously associated with panneuronal gene expression to assess the experimental usefulness of these drivers for distinguishing the endocrine influences of CNS versus midgut cells on physiological processes.

Article	Year
Identification of Split-GAL4 Drivers and Enhancers That Allow Regional Cell Type Manipulations of the Intestine. Genetics\| PubMed ID: 32988987	2020
Identification of novel split-GAL4 drivers for the characterization of enteroendocrine cells in the Drosophila melanogaster midgut. G3 (Bethesda, Md.)\| PubMed ID: 35485968	2022
Enteroendocrine cell expression of split-GAL4 drivers bearing regulatory sequences associated with panneuronally expressed genes in . microPublication biology\| PubMed ID: 36065255	2022

Jessica M. Holsopple

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