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Lethal giant larvae (Lgl) plays essential and conserved functions in regulating both cell polarity and tumorigenesis in Drosophila melanogaster and vertebrates. It is well recognized that plasma membrane (PM) or cell cortex localization is crucial for Lgl function in vivo, but its membrane-targeting mechanisms remain poorly understood. Here, we discovered that hypoxia acutely and reversibly inhibits Lgl PM targeting through a posttranslational mechanism that is independent of the well-characterized atypical protein kinase C (aPKC) or Aurora kinase-mediated phosphorylations. Instead, we identified an evolutionarily conserved polybasic (PB) domain that targets Lgl to the PM via electrostatic binding to membrane phosphatidylinositol phosphates. Such PB domain-mediated PM targeting is inhibited by hypoxia, which reduces inositol phospholipid levels on the PM through adenosine triphosphate depletion. Moreover, Lgl PB domain contains all the identified phosphorylation sites of aPKC and Aurora kinases, providing a molecular mechanism by which phosphorylations neutralize the positive charges on the PB domain to inhibit Lgl PM targeting., (© 2015 Dong et al.)

Triosephosphate isomerase (TPI) is a glycolytic enzyme that converts dihydroxyacetone phosphate (DHAP) into glyceraldehyde 3-phosphate (GAP). Glycolytic enzyme dysfunction leads to metabolic diseases collectively known as glycolytic enzymopathies. Of these enzymopathies, TPI deficiency is unique in the severity of neurological symptoms. The Drosophila sugarkill mutant closely models TPI deficiency and encodes a protein prematurely degraded by the proteasome. This led us to question whether enzyme catalytic activity was crucial to the pathogenesis of TPI sugarkill neurological phenotypes. To study TPI deficiency in vivo we developed a genomic engineering system for the TPI locus that enables the efficient generation of novel TPI genetic variants. Using this system we demonstrate that TPI sugarkill can be genetically complemented by TPI encoding a catalytically inactive enzyme. Furthermore, our results demonstrate a non-metabolic function for TPI, the loss of which contributes significantly to the neurological dysfunction in this animal model.

Alternative splicing is thought to be regulated by nonspliceosomal RNA binding proteins that modulate the association of core components of the spliceosome with the pre-mRNA. Although the majority of metazoan genes encode pre-mRNAs that are alternatively spliced, remarkably few splicing regulators are currently known. Here, we used RNA interference to examine the role of >70% of the Drosophila RNA-binding proteins in regulating alternative splicing. We identified 47 proteins as splicing regulators, 26 of which have not previously been implicated in alternative splicing. Many of the regulators we identified are nonspliceosomal RNA-binding proteins. However, our screen unexpectedly revealed that altering the concentration of certain core components of the spliceosome specifically modulates alternative splicing. These results significantly expand the number of known splicing regulators and reveal an extraordinary richness in the mechanisms that regulate alternative splicing.

Single-strand conformational polymorphism analysis has been used successfully to identify single nucleotide changes within sequences based on the fact that multidetection enhancement gels will separate molecules based on their conformation rather than their size. We have expanded the utility of this technique to analyze easily the alternative splicing of pre-mRNAs containing multiple mutually exclusive exons of the same size. We have used this technique to study the Caenorhabditis elegans let-2 gene containing two alternative exons and the Drosophilia melanogaster Dscam gene, which contains 12 mutually exclusive exons. The ease and the quantitative nature of this technique should be very useful.

RNA interference (RNAi) is a useful tool for degrading targeted messenger RNAs (mRNAs) and thus "knocking down" the abundance of the encoded protein. We have been using RNAi in cultured Drosophila cells to evaluate the effect of "knocking down" numerous mRNA processing factors on the alternative splicing of specific pre-mRNAs. This relatively simple technique has allowed us to identify a number of splicing factors that impact the alternative splicing of particular alternatively spliced exons. This approach can be extended to examine the splicing of nearly any gene.

Abstract: Mitochondrial dysfunction plays an important role in the pathogenesis of neurodegenerative diseases, numerous other disease states and senescence. The ability to monitor reactive oxygen species (ROS) within tissues and over time in animal model systems is of significant research value. Recently, redox-sensitive fluorescent proteins have been developed. Transgenic flies expressing genetically encoded redox-sensitive GFPs (roGFPs) targeted to the mitochondria function as a useful in vivo assay of mitochondrial dysfunction and ROS. We have generated transgenic flies expressing a mitochondrial-targeted roGFP2, demonstrated its responsiveness to redox changes in cultured cells and in vivo and utilized this protein to discover elevated ROS as a contributor to pathogenesis in a characterized neurodegeneration mutant and in a model of mitochondrial encephalomyopathy. These studies identify the role of ROS in pathogenesis associated with mitochondrial disease and demonstrate the utility of genetically encoded redox sensors in Drosophila. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Examines the impact of Drosophila melanogaster Down syndrome cell adhesion molecule (Dscam) on axon guidance receptor. Role of Dscam in neural development; Correlation between Dscam and messenger RNA; Relevance of receptor molecules on extracellular ligands.

Lethal giant larvae (Lgl) plays essential and conserved functions in regulating both cell polarity and tumorigenesis in Drosophila melanogaster and vertebrates. It is well recognized that plasma membrane (PM) or cell cortex localization is crucial for Lgl function in vivo, but its membrane-targeting mechanisms remain poorly understood. Here, we discovered that hypoxia acutely and reversibly inhibits Lgl PM targeting through a posttranslational mechanism that is independent of the well-characterized atypical protein kinase C (aPKC) or Aurora kinase-mediated phosphorylations. Instead, we identified an evolutionarily conserved polybasic (PB) domain that targets Lgl to the PM via electrostatic binding to membrane phosphatidylinositol phosphates. Such PB domain-mediated PM targeting is inhibited by hypoxia, which reduces inositol phospholipid levels on the PM through adenosine triphosphate depletion. Moreover, Lgl PB domain contains all the identified phosphorylation sites of aPKC and Aurora kinases, providing a molecular mechanism by which phosphorylations neutralize the positive charges on the PB domain to inhibit Lgl PM targeting. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]