Drosophila CNS glial microarray

Gliogenesis in the Drosophila CNS occurs during embryogenesis and also during the postembryonic larval stages. Several glial subtypes are generated in the postembryonic CNS through the proliferation of differentiated glial cells. The genes and molecular pathways that regulate glial proliferation in the postembryonic CNS are poorly understood. In this study we aimed to use gene expressing profiling of CNS tissue enriched in glia to identify genes expressed in glial cells in the postembryonic CNS. We used microarrays to compare the gene expression profiles from the larval CNS of animals that had increased numbers of glial cells to identify genes that are expressed in glia. RNA was purified from the late third instar larval CNS from control larvae, or larvae expressing an activated form of the FGF receptor (Hlt[ACT]), or overexpressing the insulin receptor (InR) in glial cells using the glial specific driver repoGal4 to increase the number of glial cells and generate CNS tissue enriched in glia.