A high throughput, functional screen of human Body Mass Index GWAS loci using tissue-specific RNAi Drosophila melanogaster crosses.

ABSTRACT: Human GWAS of obesity have been successful in identifying loci associated with adiposity, but for the most part, these are non-coding SNPs whose function, or even whose gene of action, is unknown. To help identify the genes on which these human BMI loci may be operating, we conducted a high throughput screen in Drosophila melanogaster. Starting with 78 BMI loci from two recently published GWAS meta-analyses, we identified fly orthologs of all nearby genes (± 250KB). We crossed RNAi knockdown lines of each gene with flies containing tissue-specific drivers to knock down (KD) the expression of the genes only in the brain and the fat body. We then raised the flies on a control diet and compared the amount of fat/triglyceride in the tissue-specific KD group compared to the driver-only control

SUBMITTER: Baranski TJ 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC5897035 | biostudies-literature | 2018 Apr

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature