Cell-type-specific Labeling of Endogenous Proteins Using the Split GFP System in .

i. Accurate identification of the locations of endogenous proteins is crucial for understanding their functions in tissues and cells. However, achieving precise cell-type-specific labeling of proteins has been challenging .

Isolation of a novel missense mutation in insulin receptor as a spontaneous revertant in ImpL2 mutants in Drosophila.

Evolutionarily conserved insulin/insulin-like growth factor (IGF) signaling (IIS) correlates nutrient levels to metabolism and growth, thereby playing crucial roles in development and adult fitness. In the fruit fly Drosophila, ImpL2, an ortholog of IGFBP7, binds to and inhibits the function of Drosophila insulin-like peptides. In this study, we isolated a temperature-sensitive mutation in the insulin receptor (InR) gene as a spontaneous revertant in ImpL2 null mutants.

A Genetic Toolkit for Simultaneous Generation of - and -Expressing Clones in Selected Cell Types in .

Visualization and manipulation of defined motoneurons have provided significant insights into how motor circuits are assembled in . A conventional approach for molecular and cellular analyses of subsets of motoneurons involves the expression of a wide range of transgenes using available drivers (eg, promoter-fused ). However, a more powerful toolkit could be one that enables a single-cell characterization of interactions between neurites from neurons of interest.

Cell-type-specific, multicolor labeling of endogenous proteins with split fluorescent protein tags in .

The impact of the experimental system on studies of modern biology cannot be understated. The ability to tag endogenously expressed proteins is essential to maximize the use of this model organism. Here, we describe a method for labeling endogenous proteins with self-complementing split fluorescent proteins (split FPs) in a cell-type-specific manner in A short fragment of an FP coding sequence is inserted into a specific genomic locus while the remainder of the FP is expressed using an available driver line.

Retrograde Tracing of Drosophila Embryonic Motor Neurons Using Lipophilic Fluorescent Dyes.

We describe a technique for retrograde labeling of motor neurons in Drosophila. We use an oil-dissolved lipophilic dye and deliver a small droplet to an embryonic fillet preparation by a microinjector. Each motor neuron whose membrane is contacted by the droplet can then be rapidly labeled.

Comparative analyses of the cholinergic locus of ChAT and VAChT and its expression in the silkworm Bombyx mori.

The cholinergic locus, which encodes choline acetyltransferase (ChAT) and vesicular acetylcholine transporter (VAChT), is specifically expressed in cholinergic neurons, maintaining the cholinergic phenotype. The organization of the locus is conserved in Bilateria. Here we examined the structure of cholinergic locus and cDNA coding for ChAT and VAChT in the silkworm, Bombyx mori.