Expression data from adult male Drosophila heads

A Drosophila microRNA (dme-miR-14) is involved in regulating the levels of insulin-like peptides (ilps) from the neuronal insulin-producing cells (IPCs). This is crucial for regulation of fat content in adult flies. Finding the target of this microRNA is crucial for understanding the regulation of ilp gene expression. We used microarrays to identify genes that are upregulated specifically in the neuronal IPCs in the microRNA mutants. Drosophila adult head RNA was extracted and hybridized on Affymetrix microarrays. We reared animals from early larval stages in controlled growth and feeding conditions. RNA was extracted from 5-day-old adult males. We collected RNA from control, homozygous dme-miR-14 mutants and mutants expressing dme-miR-14 microRNA specifically in the IPCs (rescue). We were interested in genes that were upregulated in the mutants and were restored or reduced to control levels in the rescue condition. Two biological replicates per sample type were performed.