# Next-generation Drosophila cell lines to elucidate the cellular basis of human diseases

> **NIH NIH R24** · HARVARD MEDICAL SCHOOL · 2020 · $645,802

## Abstract

PROJECT SUMMARY
This proposal is in response to the Funding Opportunity Announcement (PAR-16-369) “Resource-Related
Research Projects for Development of Animal Models and Related Materials (R24).” Our proposal addresses
the goals stated in the Research Objectives: “The grant supports research projects that contribute to the
knowledge of a model system, making the system more useful and accessible to the research community.”
Specifically, we will generate a resource of Drosophila cell lines, markers, and knockouts that will enable cell
biological analysis of genes and pathways altered in human diseases, including in disease-relevant tissue
lineages and genetic backgrounds. In recent years, we have witnessed renewed interest in Drosophila cell
lines and it is now common for Drosophila researchers to go back and forth between in vivo and cell culture
studies. However, the full potential of Drosophila cell lines, particularly for disease-related studies, has not yet
been realized, as the diversity of cell lines and markers available is limited. To overcome this bottleneck, we
propose to use exciting new advances in cell line immortalization and genome engineering to generate
reagents that will enable the community to fully exploit the power of Drosophila cell lines to address
disease-related cell biological questions. Specifically, we propose to: Aim 1: Generate new cell lines from
specific Drosophila cell lineages that will enable screens and other studies in relevant tissue-derived cell lines;
Aim 2: Use CRISPR genome engineering to generate a resource of cell lines expressing fluorescent markers
of sub-cellular components that will enable the community to perform screens exploring organelles and cell
biological events relevant to human disease; and Aim 3: Use CRISPR engineering to generate knockout cell
lines for synthetic lethal screens and other applications. We will disseminate information and resources for
creating cell disease models by making available to the community detailed protocols and plasmid vectors, as
well as the new cell lines and derivatives. Importantly, as Drosophila is an established system for the study of
diverse human diseases, the resource and tools that we will develop are relevant to nearly all NIH institutes.
Finally, we document that these resources will have benefit beyond the Drosophila community as they can be
used in a number of creative ways to uncover exciting new information about conserved gene function, protein
complexes and interactions, organelle function under normal or perturbed conditions, and more.

## Key facts

- **NIH application ID:** 9995032
- **Project number:** 5R24OD019847-04
- **Recipient organization:** HARVARD MEDICAL SCHOOL
- **Principal Investigator:** NORBERT PERRIMON
- **Activity code:** R24 (R01, R21, SBIR, etc.)
- **Funding institute:** NIH
- **Fiscal year:** 2020
- **Award amount:** $645,802
- **Award type:** 5
- **Project period:** 2017-09-18 → 2023-08-31

## Primary source

NIH RePORTER: https://reporter.nih.gov/project-details/9995032

## Citation

> US National Institutes of Health, RePORTER application 9995032, Next-generation Drosophila cell lines to elucidate the cellular basis of human diseases (5R24OD019847-04). Retrieved via AI Analytics 2026-05-23 from https://api.ai-analytics.org/grant/nih/9995032. Licensed CC0.

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