Geng, C., Pellegrino, A., Bowman, J., Zhu, L., Pak, W.L. (2004). Complete RNAi rescue of neuronal degeneration in a constitutively active Drosophila TRP channel mutant. Biochim. Biophys. Acta 1674(1): 91--97.
FlyBase ID
FBrf0179987
Publication Type
Research paper
Abstract
RNA interference has been widely used to reduce the quantity of the proteins encoded by the targeted genes. A constitutively active, dominant allele of trp, TrpP365, causes massive degeneration of photoreceptors through a persistent and excessive Ca2+ influx. Here we show that a substantial reduction of the TRP channel protein by RNAi in TrpP365 heterozygotes completely rescues the neuronal degeneration and significantly improves the light-elicited responses of the eye. The reduction need not be complete, suggesting that rescue of degeneration may be possible with minimal side effects arising from overdepletion of the target protein.
