Presenter(s): Claire Bui − Human Physiology
Faculty Mentor(s): Sonia Sen
Poster 84
Research Area: Natural Science
Funding: National Institutes of Health (NIH)
In Drosophila, neuroblasts (NBs) give rise to neurons and glia that make up the central nervous system (CNS). Each NB is characterized by a unique set of molecular markers that are dependent on spatial patterning cues. Spatial pattern is the position of the NB, which determine its cell fate. These patterning cues are crucial for the structure and function of the NBs within cell lineage, the generation of neural diversity, and the proper functioning of the CNS. Previous studies have shown that the transcription factors (TFs) Gooseberry (Gsb) and Engrailed (En) regulate cell fate of neuroblast progeny within the cell lineage. The activation of the Gsb gene has been shown to specify NB 5-6 cell lineage. In contrast, the En gene is expressed in different NBs: 7-1 and 7-4. My research focuses on two different NB cell lineages (5-6, 7-4) and two spatial TF (Gsb & En). En is normally not expressed in 5-6, so I have expressed it in NB 5-6 to see if it is transformed into 7-1 or 7-4. In this experiment, we used molecular markers to quantify NB and neuronal identity at early and late stages of Drosophila embryos. Our data suggested En caused a down-regulation of molecular markers specific to NBs 5-6 and changed the overall morphology of the cell lineage. These findings suggest En regulates the identity of neuronal progeny and provide critical insights into the spatial pattern as a mechanism of generating neuronal morphology.