Drosophila RNAi Core (DRiC): Ressources for cell-based RNAi screening in Drosophila

系统地鉴定生物过程中的所有组分及其在细胞网络中的相互作用对于基础研究和开发新的治疗干预措施至关重要。RNA干扰（RNAi）技术的发展和实施为识别细胞网络中的新组分并分配其功能做出了重大贡献。像果蝇这样的模式生物很容易处理，在理解细胞过程中发挥着关键作用，这些过程对哺乳动物系统高度保守，并且具有低冗余的特点。海德堡大学的Drosophila RNAi Core（DRiC）将为德国和世界各地的研究人员提供这种要求苛刻的最先进技术。这包括试剂的可用性，高通量RNAi筛选项目的支持以及复杂筛选数据的分析和解释。这些用于果蝇全基因组RNAi筛选的综合资源在欧洲是独一无二的。已经启动了一些国家和国际合作，例如与海德堡大学、杜塞尔多夫大学、LMU慕尼黑、KIT、MPI免疫生物学和表观遗传学、MPI分子遗传学、CNRS（法国）、IMBA（奥地利）、谢菲尔德大学（英国）、哈佛医学院（美国）和西奈山医学中心（美国）。我们的团队为在果蝇中开发高通量RNAi技术做出了重大贡献。我们在这项技术的开发和应用方面有着长期的经验，并且拥有进行大规模实验所需的设备。我们设计并合成了一个具有优化效率和特异性的全基因组RNAi文库。开发了用于分析和呈现高通量数据的计算程序和数据库，并提供给研究界。DRiC的总体目标是：（i）提供和进一步开发果蝇RNAi文库，（ii）支持研究小组进行和分析RNAi筛选，以及（iii）进一步开发现有的计算工具，用于分析和呈现RNAi筛选数据，以进行全面的功能分析和简单的处理。

The systematic identification of all components in biological processes and their interaction in cellular networks is of central importance for basic research and the development of novel therapeutic interventions. The development and implementation of RNA interference (RNAi) technologies has significantly contributed to identify novel components and assign their function in cellular networks. Model organisms like Drosophila are easy to handle and play a key role in understanding cellular processes, which are highly conserved to mammalian systems and characterized by low redundancy. Drosophila RNAi Core (DRiC) at the Heidelberg University will contribute to make this demanding and state-of-the-art technology available to researchers in Germany and worldwide. This includes the availability of reagents, support in high-throughput RNAi screening projects as well as analysis and interpretation of complex screening data. These comprehensive resources for genome-wide RNAi screening in Drosophila are unique in Europe. Several national and international co-operations have been initiated, e.g. with University of Heidelberg, University of Düsseldorf, LMU Munich, KIT, MPI for Immunobiology and Epigenetics, MPI for Molecular Genetics, CNRS (France), IMBA (Austria), University of Sheffield (UK), Harvard Medical School (USA) and Mount Sinai Medical Center (USA). Our group has significantly contributed to develop high-throughput RNAi technologies in Drosophila. We have long-standing experience in development and application of this technology and the required equipment to conduct large-scale experiments is available. We have designed and synthesized a genome-wide RNAi library with optimized efficiency and specificity. Computational programs and databases for the analysis and presentation of high-throughput data were developed and made available to the research community. The overarching aims of DRiC are: (i) supply and further develop the Drosophila RNAi library, (ii) support research groups in conducting and analyzing RNAi screens and (iii) further develop existing computational tools for the analysis and presentation of RNAi screening data in respect to comprehensive functional analysis and simple handling.