模式动物果蝇的基因调控前沿技术

The cutting edge of gene regulation approaches in model organism Drosophila

转基因调控技术在生命医学研究中扮演了重要的角色,是探究个体发育和致病机制的必备工具。常用的转基因调控技术包括基因突变、基因干扰和基因转录激活等。果蝇由于具有基因的保守性、遗传工具的多样性以及不受伦理限制等优势,成为生命科学研究中经典模式动物之一,并由此开发出了多种时间和组织特异性的基因调控工具。本文主要介绍了目前在果蝇中常用的基因调控技术,包括CRISPR/Cas9介导的基因突变系统、基于miRNA的新一代转基因干扰系统以及基于CRISPR/dCas9的转录激活(flySAM)系统,希望通过对这几种系统设计原理、操作过程、相关的技术工具及相关资源品系的介绍,提升人们对这些前沿的果蝇遗传学基因表达调控技术及构建的相关果蝇资源品系重要性认识,进而推动生命医学研究发展。

Transgenic gene regulatory techniques play a critical role in biomedical fields since they are essential for researchers to study the molecular mechanisms of development and diseases.The currently prevalent transgenic techniques include specific gene mutation,transgenic RNAi and targeting activation,etc.Specifically,various gene regulatory tools have been developed to temporarily and spatially modulate genes in Drosophila melanogaster,which is a typical model organism with evolutionally conserved genome and without ethical issues in scientific research.Here,we introduce several gene regulatory techniques commonly used in Drosophila,including the principle,procedure,toolbox and related transgenic resource of CRISPR/Cas9-triggered heritable gene mutation system,next-generation transgenic RNAi and CRISPR/dCas9-based transcriptional activation(flySAM)approach.We wish to take this opportunity to raise the awareness of the importance of transgenic gene regulatory techniques development and related resource construction and thus to promote biomedical research progression.