A novel Drosophila injury model reveals severed axons are cleared through a Draper/MMP-1 signaling cascade

The goal of this project was to assess differential gene expression in the Ventral Nerve Cord (VNC) of adult Drosophila 5 hours after severing of the legs, wings and head. Gene expression was assessed in 2 conditions (No Injury and 5-hrs after Injury) in the w1118 strain of Drosophila melanogaster. 5 independent biological replicates were used for each condition. RNA was isolated from the adult Ventral Nerve Cord (VNC) for the gene expression analysis (RNAseq).