PgmNr Z6209: Developing an inducible gene regulation system with spatiotemporal precision at cellular resolution.

Authors:
Mahendra Wagle; Zhiqiang Dong; Annam Jayabhargav; Seema Niddapu; Su Guo


Institutes
University of California San Francisco, San Francisco, CA.


Abstract:

The ability to regulate gene expression with saptiotemporal precision is highly desirable to study various biological phenomena. There has been considerable development in tools and methods available for controlling gene expression in zebrafish. Morpholino knockdown and CRISPR knockouts are most widely used methods for downregulating genes of interest, but have limitations with respect to controlling it to desired cells. RNAi mediated gene knockdown has been successfully demonstrated in zebrafish. We further develop this technique by combining GAL4-UAS and drug inducible TetON system to efficiently knockdown genes of interest. By using tissue specific promoters or available enhancer trap lines to drive Gal4 in specific cell types, it will be possible to restrict gene knockdown in desired cell types at various time points during the development. To achieve such regulation at single cell level, we are currently developing light inducible GAL4 system for gene expression and knockdown.