E2F Deregulation Compromises ER homeostasis by Attenuating IRE1 Activity

The E2F family of transcription factors is an essential regulator of the cell cycle across all metazoan and is often deregulated in cancer. While their primary function is in cell cycle control, E2Fs also influence various cellular processes, such as apoptosis and metabolism. Previous studies in mice have shown that E2F deregulation particularly affect exocrine tissues such as the salivary gland and pancrease. However, the mechanisms behind exocrine cell sensitivity to E2F loss remain inadequately explored. Our lab recently discovered a novel alternatively spliced isoform of Drosophila de2f1, de2f1b, with an additional 16 amino acids than the canonical isoform of de2f1, de2f1a. de2f1b mutants have defects in development of polyploid tissues such as larval salivary glands (SG). Interestingly, SGs of de2f1b mutant shows DNA damage, accumulate cytoplasmic DNA and activation of immune response. This RNA-seq study is to create a gene expression profile of the de2f1b SGs to get a comprehensive understanding of the effects of de2f1b mutation in exocrine tissues. Overall design: RNA-seq analysis of salivary glands from third instar wandering larvae of de2f1b mutant using w1118 as control. All fly strains were maintained in standard cornmeal medium at 25°C and 50% humidity.