Transcriptomic screen to identify genes regulated by Store-operated calcium entry in Drosophila pupal nervous system

Transcriptional regulation by Store-operated Calcium Entry (SOCE) is well studied in non-excitable cells. However, the role of SOCE has been poorly documented in neuronal cells with more complicated calcium dynamics. Previous reports demonstrated a requirement of neuronal SOCE for Drosophila flight. We identified the early pupal stage to be critical and used RNA-sequencing to identify SOCE mediated gene expression changes in the developing Drosophila pupal nervous system. We down-regulated dStim, the endoplasmic reticular calcium sensor and a principal component of SOCE in the nervous system for a 24h period during pupal development, and compared wild type and knockdown transcriptional profiles, immediately after knockdown as well as after a 36h recovery period. We found that dStim knockdown altered the expression of a number of genes. We also characterized one of the down-regulated genes, Ral for its role in flight. Thus, we identify neuronal SOCE as a mechanism that regulates expression of a number of genes during the development of the pupal nervous system. These genes can be further studied in the context of pupal nervous system development. mRNA sequencing from two biological replicates each of wild type and dStim knockdown pupal brains at two time points - 36h APF (post 24h knockdown) and at 72h APF (Post knockdown and recovery)