Protein expression profiling of genes implicated in cognitive disorders. Monika Zuberova¹, Korinna Kochinke², Pavel Mejstrik¹, Annette Schenck², Pavel Tomancak¹. 1) Max Planck Institute of Molecular Cell Biology and Genetics, Dresden, Germany; 2) Radboud University Medical Centre, Department of Human Genetics, Nijmegen, Netherlands.

   Cognitive disorders are, due to their high frequency and unavoidable lifelong dependence on external help, a major medical and socio-economic problem world-wide. Particularly for the large amounts of disorders characterized by intellectual disability, full cures are not possible and the search for effective treatment is unlikely to be successful until the pathology of these disorders is better understood. Currently, mutation in more than 300 human genes are thought to cause cognitive disorders. These genes provide an exciting molecular window into fundamental neuroscience and translational research (from bedside to the bench and back). To characterize their function, a large international project (FP7 Gencodys) has been launched in 2010. Fast accumulating evidence indicates that their protein products are functionally not very diverse and that they are involved in several molecular pathways regulating neural development and synaptic plasticity. Taking part in this project, we are creating a systematic library of Drosophila strains bearing fluorescently tagged (and thus easily trackable) Drosophila homologs of these human cognitive disorders genes. Combining this novel reporter toolbox with modern microscopy techniques and specialized computer vision approaches, we are profiling their protein expression in Drosophila nervous tissue, throughout development. We expect that the resulting high resolution 3D and 4D atlases will significantly contribute to our understanding of their function and thus to our understanding of common processes driving the development and function of the nervous system.