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Dissecting mitosis by RNAi inDrosophila tissue culture cells

Biological Procedures Online volume 5, pages 153–161 (2003)Cite this article

Abstract

Here we describe a detailed methodology to study the function of genes whose products function during mitosis by dsRNA-mediated interference (RNAi) in cultured cells ofDrosophila melanogaster. This procedure is particularly useful for the analysis of genes for which genetic mutations are not available or for the dissection of complicated phenotypes derived from the analysis of such mutants. With the advent of whole genome sequencing it is expected that RNAi-based screenings will be one method of choice for the identification and study of novel genes involved in particular cellular processes. In this paper we focused particularly on the procedures for the proper phenotypic analysis of cells after RNAi-mediated depletion of proteins required for mitosis, the process by which the genetic information is segregated equally between daughter cells. We use RNAi of the microtubule-associated protein MAST/Orbit as an example for the usefulness of the technique.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Laboratório de Genética Molecular, Instituto de Biologia Molecular e Celular, Universidade do Porto, Rua Campo Alegre, 823, 4150-180, Porto, Portugal

    Helder Maiato & Claudio E. Sunkel

  2. Instituto de Ciências Biomédicas de Abel Salazar, Universidade do Porto, Portugal

    Claudio E. Sunkel

  3. Chromosome Structure Group, Wellcome Trust Centre for Cell Biology, Institute of Cell and Molecular Biology, University of Edinburgh, Scotland, United Kingdom

    William C. Earnshaw

Authors
  1. Helder Maiato
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  2. Claudio E. Sunkel
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  3. William C. Earnshaw
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Correspondence to Helder Maiato.

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Published: June 15, 2003

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Maiato, H., Sunkel, C.E. & Earnshaw, W.C. Dissecting mitosis by RNAi inDrosophila tissue culture cells. Biol. Proced. Online 5, 153–161 (2003). https://doi.org/10.1251/bpo57

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1251/bpo57

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Biological Procedures Online

ISSN: 1480-9222

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