Identification of genes regulated by Fer2 in PAM neurons using an overexpression approach

The transcription factor Fer2 plays a neuroprotective role in the dopaminergic neurons of the fly brain, but the underlying molecular mechanisms are not understood. By performing RNA-seq on isolated dopaminergic PAM neurons after Fer2 constitutive overexpression, we identified over one hundred genes differentially regulated in response to PAM-specific Fer2 overexpression. Overall design: RNA-seq on isolated dopaminergic PAM neurons from 14 day-old flies overexpressing a UAS-Fer2::FLAG transgene driven by a PAM specific GAL4 (R58-GAL4). Flies not carrying the UAS-Fer2::FLAG transgene were used as controls. N=3 per group.