Perspectives on gene expression regulation techniques in Drosophila

Rong-Gang Xu; Xia Wang; Da Shen; Jin Sun; Huan-Huan Qiao; Fang Wang; Lu-Ping Liu; Jian-Quan Ni

doi:10.1016/j.jgg.2019.03.006

Perspectives on gene expression regulation techniques in Drosophila

J Genet Genomics. 2019 Apr 20;46(4):213-220. doi: 10.1016/j.jgg.2019.03.006. Epub 2019 Apr 17.

Authors

Rong-Gang Xu¹, Xia Wang¹, Da Shen¹, Jin Sun², Huan-Huan Qiao¹, Fang Wang¹, Lu-Ping Liu³, Jian-Quan Ni⁴

Affiliations

¹ Gene Regulatory Lab, School of Medicine, Tsinghua University, Beijing, 100084, China.
² Gene Regulatory Lab, School of Medicine, Tsinghua University, Beijing, 100084, China; Tsinghua University-Peking University Joint Center for Life Sciences, Beijing, 100084, China.
³ Gene Regulatory Lab, School of Medicine, Tsinghua University, Beijing, 100084, China; Department of Genetics, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA, 02115, USA; Howard Hughes Medical Institute, Boston, MA, 02115, USA.
⁴ Gene Regulatory Lab, School of Medicine, Tsinghua University, Beijing, 100084, China; Tsingdao Advanced Research Institute, Tongji University, Qingdao, 266000, China. Electronic address: nijq@mail.tsinghua.edu.cn.

PMID: 31060819
DOI: 10.1016/j.jgg.2019.03.006

Abstract

Gene expression regulation, including loss-of-function and gain-of-function assays, is a powerful method to study developmental and disease mechanisms. Drosophila melanogaster is an ideal model system particularly well-equipped with many genetic tools. In this review, we describe and discuss the gene expression regulation techniques recently developed and their applications, including the CRISPR/Cas9-triggered heritable mutation system, CRISPR/dCas9-based transcriptional activation (CRISPRa) system, and CRISPR/dCas9-based transcriptional repression (CRISPRi) system, as well as the next-generation transgenic RNAi system. The main purpose of this review is to provide the fly research community with an updated summary of newly developed gene expression regulation techniques and help the community to select appropriate methods and optimize the research strategy.

Keywords: CRISPRa; CRISPRi; Drosophila; Genome editing system; Transgenic RNAi system.

Publication types

Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't
Review

MeSH terms

Animals
CRISPR-Cas Systems / genetics
Drosophila melanogaster / genetics*
Gene Expression
Genetic Engineering / methods*
RNA Interference
Transcriptional Activation