Genome-wide analysis of gene expression in imaginal discs Drosophila melanogaster

基因表达的调控对于发育中动物的细胞命运和组织分化的特化至关重要。因此，确定生物体内所有基因的表达模式将是理解其发育背后的调控网络的基础。我们之一（PT）最近产生了大量的RNA探针，以确定通过RNA原位杂交的表达模式的7590（共约14.000）基因在果蝇胚胎。该分析揭示了反映胚胎细胞复杂性的多种表达模式。在这里，我们建议使用我们的大量收集的RNA探针，以全面确定基因表达模式的幼虫成虫盘，简单的上皮细胞，经常被用作模型组织，以研究发育机制。我们的目标是双重的：首先，广泛的目标是提供一个公正的概述基因表达调控上皮组织进行图案化的决定，并破译其发展背后的监管网络。其次，我们更具体的目标是确定，根据其表达模式，新的刺猬信号转导通路的靶基因。Hedgehog信号通路在成虫盘形成过程中起着重要作用，它在进化上是保守的，在脊椎动物的发育过程中也起着重要的调控作用。它的错误调节与人类癌症有关。

The regulation of gene expression is pivotal to the specification of cell fate and tissue differentiation in developing animals. Thus, the determination of expression patterns of all genes within an organism will be fundamental to the understanding of the regulatory network underlying its development. One of us (PT) has recently generated a large collection of RNA probes to determine by RNA in situ hybridization the expression patterns of 7590 (out of a total of about 14.000) genes in the Drosophila melanogaster embryo. This analysis has revealed a great variety of expression patterns reflecting the cellular complexity of the embryo. Here, we propose to use our large collection of RNA probes to comprehensively determine gene expression patterns in larval imaginal discs, simple epithelia that are frequently used as model tissues to study developmental mechanisms. Our aims are twofold: First, the broad aims are to provide an unbiased overview of gene expression regulation in an epithelial tissue undergoing patterning decisions and to decipher the regulatory network underlying its development. Second, our more specific aim is to identify, based on their expression pattern, novel target genes of the Hedgehog signal transduction pathway. The Hedgehog signaling pathway plays central role in imaginal disc patterning, it is evolutionary conserved and plays important regulatory roles also during vertebrate development. Its mis-regulation is associated with cancers in humans.