An in vivo platform to identify pathogenic loci

Abstract

Rare genetic disease discovery efforts typically lead to the identification of new disease genes. PreMIER (Precision Medicine Integrated Experimental Resources) is a collaborative platform designed to facilitate functional evaluation of human genetic variants in model systems, and to date the PreMIER Consortium has evaluated over 50 variants in patients with genetic disorders. To understand if Drosophila could be used to identify pathogenic disease loci as part of the PreMIER Consortium, we used tissue-specific gene knockdown in the fly as a proof of principle experiment. Tissue-specific knockdown of seven conserved disease genes caused significant changes in viability, longevity, behavior, motor function, and neuronal survival arguing a set of defined assays can be used to determine if a gene of uncertain significance (GUS) regulates specific physiological processes. This study highlights the utility of a tissue-specific knockdown platform in Drosophila to characterize GUS, which may provide the first genephenotype correlations for patients with idiopathic genetic disorders