Primary screening of co-factors involving Scribble-mediated growth regulation in the Drosophila wing imaginal disc

Abstract

The wing imaginal disc of Drosophila melanogaster has been used as a model to study tissue growth and morphogenesis. This disc is composed of epithelial cells exhibiting apical-basal polarity (APB), which is essential for tissue development and homeostasis. Disruption of APB can lead to a loss in cell polarity that may result in neoplasia formation. Scribble (Scrib) is one of the key components involved in maintenance of ABP. Recent studies indicate that the copy number of scrib in the tissue directly influences formation of neoplasia when scrib is conditionally knocked down using an RNAi approach. This leads to the hypothesis that there is a synergy between additional genes and Scrib in the Scrib-derived neoplasia formation. To test this hypothesis, gene screening was performed. Deficiency fly lines with a specific deleted region and a conditional knock-down of scrib initiated by RNAi were used to find genes of interest. Following the evaluation of two different protocols, possible candidates for further screening were found.