poly-A RNA profiling of Drosophila neural stem cells and tumor cells reveals genes involved in brain tumorigenesis.. Drosophila melanogaster

Acquisition of unlimited proliferation potential is a critical hallmark of tumor cells. Drosophila neural stem cells called neuroblasts asymmetrically segregate protein determinants such as Brat into one of their two daughter cells to prevent self-renewal and induce neuronal differentiation. Mutations in these fate determinants or defects in their asymmetric segregation result in a fate reversion of the differentiating daughter cells into proliferative ectopic neuroblasts, so-called tumor neuroblasts. Over time, these events result in the formation of large brain tumors that can be maintained indefinitely by transplantation into another fly host. Our transcriptome analysis identifies genes deregulated in these over-proliferative tumor brain cells. Overall design: Comparison of transcriptomes of wild-type type II NBs and brat RNAi-triggered tumor type II NBs isolated by FACS from Drosophila melanogaster larval brains.