Determining the location and expression pattern of RaHMG-D chromatin protein during the development of Rhynchosciara americana

• Grant number: 14/18492-0
• Support Opportunities: Scholarships in Brazil - Scientific Initiation
• Start date: December 01, 2014
• End date: June 30, 2015
• Field of knowledge: Biological Sciences - Biochemistry - Molecular Biology
• Principal Investigator: Fábio Siviero
• Grantee: Renatta Magalhães Eblack
• Host Institution: Instituto de Ciências Biomédicas (ICB). Universidade de São Paulo (USP). São Paulo , SP, Brazil

Abstract

Our group identified a homologous HMG-D (High Mobility Group D) protein, member of a family of abundant nuclear proteins, in a cDNA library of salivary glands Rhynchosciara americana, built during the last replication cycle of politeny, period in which gene amplification also occurs in several chromosomal regions. The fact that the protein encoded by this message might be involved in chromatin remodeling and transcriptional activation makes it an interesting target for study. Preliminary data indicate that it may be involved in events occurring during larval development in this model. This project aims to determine the location and expression pattern of RaHMG-D protein in salivary glands and ovaries of Rhynchosciara at different stages of development, using recently produced antibody against this protein in histological sections, montages in "whole mount" and Western blots. Another approach is to quantify the levels of messenger RaHMG-D in these same tissues by using quantitative RT-PCR.