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Exhibition of Undergraduate Research and Creative Achievement (EURÄ“CA) Abstract Submission Form 2013 Please submit electronically to your Division Representative and the Office of Research (email: [email protected]) no later than February 20, 2013. Student Name(s): Shannon Smith & Hakyong Kwak Title of Presentation: Characterization of the apoptotic functions of the Hid homolog isolated from Scuttle fly, Megaselia scalaris Division of Entry: Faculty Advisor: BCMB Jae Park Abstract: (Type in 12 point font to fit the box below.) Apoptotic cell death is crucial for the normal development of animals. Apoptosis is a form of programmed cell death in which cell death is precisely regulated by a genetic program. Drosophila melanogaster has been extensively used as a model system to study the molecular bases of apoptosis. Reaper (rpr), head involution defective (hid), grim and sickle are the death promoters best characterized in D. melanogastera. The products of these death genes antagonize caspase inhibitor, thereby activating these caspases, which are the ultimate executioners of programmed cell death (Lee et al, 2012). To investigate whether apoptotic mechanisms are conserved in remotely related species, we cloned a gene from the scuttle fly, Megaselia scalaris, homologous to Drosophila hid (dHID). The isolated scHID cDNA encodes a protein of 197 amino acids, which was much shorter than that of dHID- 410 aa. We then tested the killing activity of this gene in Drosophila neurons using a UAS-gal4 transgenic expression system. The results showed that the scHID killed all neurons that we tested in the Drosophila central nervous system. This indicates that despite the significant structural divergence, the death domains have been conserved over time and are sufficient for the killing activities.