Drosophila melanogaster has been a useful model system for identifying new signaling pathways and effectors in neurodevelopmental diseases, including gliomas. Moreover, with our work in Drosophila models, we have developed in depth expertise in confocal imaging of whole mount 'minibrains,' single cell functional genetic and phenotypic analyses, and a variety of developmental neurobiology approaches that we have readily adapted to our ongoing research on mammalian models of high-grade gliomas.
For more information, please see some of our publications on these models and their uses:
Saborio, J.G. E.E. Young, A.S. Chen, R.D. Read. 2022. protocol to use Drosophila melanogaster larvae to model human glioblastoma. STAR Protocols. doi: 10.1016/j.xpro.2022.101609
Chen, A. and R.D. Read. 2019. Drosophila models for human brain cancers. Book chapter for “Drosophila Models in Cancer.” Springer Nature., edited by W.M. Deng.
Read, R.D. 2018. The Pvr receptor tyrosine kinase signaling promotes post-embryonic morphogenesis and survival of glia and neural progenitor cells in Drosophila. Development. doi: 10.1242/dev.164285.
Chen, A., J. Wardwell-Ozgo, N. Shah, D. Wright, C. Appin, K. Vigneswaran, D. Brat, H. Kornblum, R.D. Read. 2018. Drak/Stk17A drives neoplastic glial proliferation through modulation of MRLC signaling. Cancer Research. doi.org/10.1158/0008-5472.CAN-18-0482.
Read, R.D., T.S. Fenton, G. Gomez, J. Wykosky, S.R. Vandenberg, I. Babic, H. Yang, A. Iwanami, P.S. Mischel, W.K. Cavenee, F.B. Furnari, J.B. Thomas. 2013. A kinome-wide RNAi screen in Drosophila glia reveals that the RIO kinases mediate cell proliferation and survival through TORC2-Akt signaling in glioblastoma. PLoS Genetics 9(2):e1003253.
Read, R.D., W.K. Cavenee, F.B. Furnari, J.B. Thomas. 2009. A Drosophila model for EGFR-Ras and PI3K dependent human glioma. PLoS Genetics 5(2):e1000374.
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