Dynamic changes in neuronal and glial GAL4 driver expression during Drosophila aging.

ABSTRACT: Understanding how diverse cell types come together to form a functioning brain relies on the ability to specifically target these cells. This is often done using genetic tools such as the GAL4/UAS system in Drosophila melanogaster. Surprisingly, despite its extensive usage during studies of the aging brain, detailed spatiotemporal characterization of GAL4 driver lines in adult flies has been lacking. Here, we show that 3 commonly used neuronal drivers (elav[C155]-GAL4, nSyb[R57C10]-GAL4, and ChAT-GAL4) and the commonly used glial driver repo-GAL4 all show rapid and pronounced decreases in activity over the first 1.5 weeks of adult life, with activity becoming undetectable in some regions after 30 days (at 18°C). In addition to an overall decrease in GAL4 activity over time, we found notabl

SUBMITTER: Delandre C 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC11912842 | biostudies-literature | 2025 Mar

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature