Analysis of the Asymmetric Gene Expression between the Left and Right Hemispheres of <i>Drosophila</i> Brain

Abstract

Studying the molecular mechanism of brain asymmetry can provide important clues to understand neurological diseases and psychiatric disorders related to brain lateralization. In this paper, asymmetric gene expression in the left/right hemispheres of Drosophila brain was genome-widely analyzed to help understand the molecular mechanism of brain asymmetry. Using microarray analysis of total RNAs of the left/right brain hemispheres, thirty-eight genes were found to be differentially expressed in the left/right hemispheres. This result supports that Drosophila brain is asymmetrical at the molecular level. Among thirty-eight genes, six genes of interests were chosen for further analysis based on their protein structures or previous studies: dpr 6, CG 13299, CG 13068, Lim 3, CG 43759, and Ir 21 a . Those six genes encode proteins that serve various functions like neural gene expression, memory control, ion channel, and membrane receptor. Surprisingly, all six genes of interests have their peak expression during the early embryonic stages, suggesting that they may play a role in the developmental stage of brain lateralization. Overall, these findings of differential gene expressions in the left/right brain hemispheres can serve as a basic foundation for further research on the understanding of the molecular mechanism of brain asymmetry.