by Hannah Buckelew
Several studies in vertebrates indicate that T-box proteins are important in regulating a multitude of cellular processes in development and disease across species. The loss of function for T-box genes is known to cause heart, ectodermal and nervous system defects. Therefore, knowing how these genes are regulated is highly significant.

Krishna Bhat, M.D., Ph.D., a professor in the UAB Department of Biomedical Engineering and Neurology, recently published an article titled, “Posttranscriptional regulation of the T-box gene midline via the 3’UTR in Drosophila is complex and cell- and tissue- dependent” in the journal Genetics. Bhat and his team found that midline (mid), one of the important T-box genes regulating development and diseases across organisms, is regulated at the posttranscriptional level.

“In this work, we report several important findings about the dynamics of this gene, but also about relating results from cell culture experiments to organisms,” says Bhat. “We found that the regulation of mid in cell cultures significantly differed in vivo in Drosophila, or fruit flies.”

This study also reports the difference between cell culture studies and in vivo and displays the transgenerational effects of balancers on phenotype-modifications in the F1 progeny.

“Cell cultures are artificial and good for studying certain cellular processes, but they are not effective in determining what is happening in real organisms,” says Kalpana Makhijani, Ph.D., co-investigator and assistant professor at the University of Tampa. “Our research in vivo with fruit flies allows us to take a look at real organisms and use a very large sample size while doing it, which enhances reproducibility as well.”

Bhat found a balancer-mediated transgenerational effect on the regulation of the gene. This transgenerational regulation appears to be complex.  

“Ultimately, we want to bring this balancer effect on progeny to the research community so that the impact of the use of balancers is well-understood,” says Bhat. “The use of balancers is an integral part of fruit fly genetics; therefore, our results emphasize caution interpreting results within the context of the gene-function analysis.”

Collaborators with Bhat and Makhijani in this study include Jordan Mar, a graduate student at Texas A&M, and Ivana Gaziova, Ph.D., a research scientist at the University of Texas.