Transcriptomic profiling reveals a role for pro-survival and stress responsive genes in suppressing fly parkin phenotypes.

For examining the gene expression changes due to loss of the innate immunity gene STING in a parkin mutant fly background, we performed RNA-sequencing to compare the transcriptomes of the stingRG5, park25, and stingRG5; park25 mutant flies, using the shared background stock w1118 as a wild-type control. There were significant differences in the expression patterns of stress-repsonsive genes in the double mutants, compared to either single mutant strain alone. These underlying changes to the transcriptional landscape in sting-/- flies necessitates further study to better understand the role of stress-responsive genes in mitigating mitochondrial and oxidative damage during development or disease. Total fly lysates (10 flies each, with 2-3 biological replicas per group) were analysed with RNA-Seq, DESeq2, and GSEA for gene expression changes in mutant alleles (park25, stingRG5, double) compared to wild-type w1118 controls