Figure 3.

Establishing and validating a genetic screen system for genes required for Drosophila nephrocyte function. (A) Schematic drawing of the genetic screen system for genes required for nephrocyte function. (B) Dot-Gal4, which drives pericardial nephrocyte-specific expression, was used to specifically knock down gene expression in pericardial nephrocytes. (C and C′) The fly line carrying MHC-ANF-RFP, Hand-GFP, and Dot-Gal4. The MHC-ANF-RFP reporter (red) is accumulated in pericardial nephrocytes overlapping with Hand-GFP (green). (D–F) Pericardial nephrocyte-specific RNAi knockdown of (D) sns, (E) duf, or (F) Mec2 completely blocked or dramatically reduced the MHC-ANF-RFP reporter uptake in pericardial nephrocytes. Hand-GFP (green) was used to label pericardial nephrocytes when ANF-RFP uptake is blocked or reduced.