Not Wanting To Eat Protein May Be Early Herald of Cancer Cachexia Study in fruit flies uncovers earliest known sign of impending muscle and fat wasting

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Han. M., Xia, B., Kim, A-R., Filine, E., Stoneburner, E., Miao, T., Liu, Y., Zirin, J. and Perrimon, N. (2026) Phage display-mediated immuno-PCR to detect low-abundance secreted proteins in Drosophila. PNAS. 14;123(15):e2531777123. doi: 10.1073/pnas.2531777123. PMID: 41941621

Petsakou, A., Filine. E., Li, M., Zheng, A., and Perrimon, N. (2026) Tumor-induced orexigenic imbalance lowers protein appetite and drives early organ wasting symptoms. Nature Communications. doi: 10.1038/s41467-026-70074-2. PMID: 41792134

Cholinergic signaling modulates intestinal pathophysiology in a drosophila model of cystic fibrosis.
Lane EA, Petsakou A, Liu Y, Chen W, Qadiri M, Hu Y, Perrimon N. PLoS Genet. 2026 Feb 17;22(2):e1012048. doi: 10.1371/journal.pgen.1012048. Online ahead of print. PMID: 41701793

Ewen-Campen, B., Chen, W., Tattikota, S. G., Liu, Y., Hu, Y. and Perrimon, N. (2026) The Drosophila proventriculus lacks stem cells but compensates for age-related cell loss via endoreplication-mediated cell growth. bioRxiv 2025.06.27.662004; Nat Com. doi: 10.1038/s41467-026-68876-5. PMID: 41593082

Moon, Hu, Dzieciatkowska, Kim, Asara, D'Alessandro and Perrimon (2026) Modeling tissue-specific Drosophila metabolism identifies high sugar diet-induced metabolic dysregulation in muscle at reaction and pathway levels. Nat Comm. doi: 10.1038/s41467-026-68395-3.

Marques et al. (2025) In-situ glial cell-surface proteomics identifies pro-longevity factors in Drosophila. eLife14:RP109422https://doi.org/10.7554/eLife.109422.1

Lin, Deng, Gao, Tan, Zhong, Tan, Tan, Virshup, Bosch, Perrimon and Wang (2026) Microproteins Simba1 and Simba2 activate Wingless signaling during the reactivation of neural stem cells in Drosophila. Nat. Comm. doi: 10.1038/s41467-025-66727-3. PMID: 41298547

Mameli, Samantsidis, Viswanatha, Kwon, Hall, Butnaru, Hu., Y., Mohr, Perrimon and Smith (2025) A genome-wide CRISPR screen in Anopheles mosquito cells identifies fitness and immune cell function-related genes. 16(1):10323. doi: 10.1038/s41467-025-65304-y. PMID: 41285753

Huang, K. and Perrimon, N. (2025) Metabolic command centers in Drosophila: How the fat body and oenocytes orchestrate immunity, reproduction, and aging. Current Opinion in Insect Science. 101459. doi: 10.1016/j.cois.2025.101459. PMID: 41218693

Phage display-mediated immuno-PCR to detect low-abundance secreted proteins in Drosophila Circulating hormones, that mediate communications across organs to maintain physiological balance, are commonly detected and quantified using enzyme-linked immunosorbent assays (ELISAs). However, whil...

New paper: Phage display-mediated immuno-PCR to detect low-abundance secreted proteins in Drosophila
Han, Xia, Ah-Ram Kim, Filine, Stoneburner, Miao, Liu, Zirin, Perrimon
bioRxiv 2025.10.31.685841; doi: doi.org/10.1101/2025...

A Structure-Guided Kinase-Transcription Factor Interactome Atlas Reveals Docking Landscapes of the Kinome Protein kinases orchestrate cellular processes through phosphorylation, yet the structural basis for their specific binding partner interactions remains largely unmapped. Here, we present a structure-...

New paper: A Structure-Guided Kinase-Transcription Factor Interactome Atlas Reveals Docking Landscapes of the Kinome
Kim, Huang, Johnson, Yaron-Barir, Keven Wang, Cantley, Hu, Perrimon
bioRxiv 2025.10.10.681672; doi: doi.org/10.1101/2025...

A family of lethal exotoxins defined by cell entry via the Attractin receptor Although bacterial genomes encode numerous potential toxins, it is unclear how evolution drives the specificity of these important virulence factors. Using an insect CRISPR screen, we identified the t...

New paper: A family of lethal exotoxins defined by cell entry via the Attractin receptor
Viswanatha, Lee, Robins, Mameli, Hu, Kim, Hashmi, Hiroshi , Prakash, Butnaru, Churchman, Mohr, Mekalanos, Perrimon
doi: doi.org/10.1101/2025...

Hepatic ceramide synthesis links systemic inflammation to organelle dysfunction in cancer Paraneoplastic syndromes arise when tumor-derived cytokines reprogram distant organs. Although mediators such as Interleukin-6 have been implicated, how these signals impair host organ function remain...

New paper: Hepatic ceramide synthesis links systemic inflammation to organelle dysfunction in cancer
Liu, Miao, Wang, Ezequiel, Kim, Zhang, Sun, Binari, Asara, Yanhui Hu, Goncalves, Janowitz, Perrimon
doi: doi.org/10.1101/2025...

ww.nbcnews.com/science/science-news/trumps-harvard-cuts-threaten-giant-biomedical-research-community-datab-rcna230610

www.thecrimson.com/article/2025...
Harvard Funding Cuts Endanger the Massive Fruit Fly Database That Powers Genetic Research

A Better Way to Treat Obesity PhD student Muhammad Ahmad has pinpointed important genes that regulate the retention and burning of fat in fruit flies and mammalian cells. His goal? To develop gene-editing therapies that could be a...

gsas.harvard.edu/news/better-...

Exclusive: Harvard University lays off fly database team The layoffs jeopardize this resource, which has served more than 4,000 labs for about three decades.

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Renal Coenzyme A (CoA) Production Fuels Stem Cell Proliferation and Tumor Growth Coenzyme A (CoA), derived from Vitamin B5 (VB5), is essential for lipid metabolism, energy production, and cell proliferation. While the intracellular functions of CoA are well characterized, its tiss...

Renal Coenzyme A (CoA) Production Fuels Stem Cell Proliferation and Tumor Growth
Ting Miao, Ying Liu, Mujeeb Qadiri, John M. Asara, Yanhui Hu, Xiaomei Sun, Christian Dibble, Norbert Perrimon
bioRxiv 2025.08.08.669325; doi: doi.org/10.1101/2025...

A Genome-wide CRISPR Screen Reveals ZDHHC8-Dependent Gαq Palmitoylation as a Key Regulator of GPCR Signaling G protein-coupled receptors (GPCRs) that couple to the Gαq signaling pathway control diverse physiological processes, yet the full complement of cellular regulators for this pathway remains unknown. H...

A Genome-wide CRISPR Screen Reveals ZDHHC8-Dependent Gαq Palmitoylation as a Key Regulator of GPCR Signaling
Muhammad Ahmad, Norbert Perrimon, Raghuvir Viswanatha, Ah-Ram Kim
bioRxiv 2025.08.06.668953; doi: doi.org/10.1101/2025...

Cheng, C., Liu, Y., Chen, Y., Li, J., Xu, W., Perrimon, N. and Song, W. (2025) The power of Drosophila in modeling cancer cachexia. Adv Exp Med Biol. 482:83-100. doi: 10.1007/978-3-031-97035-1_5. PMID: 40745137

Intersecting experimental evolution and CRISPR screens to identify novel insecticide resistance loci Understanding the evolution of insect resistance to natural and artificial poisons is important both to appreciate the adaptation of species to toxic ecological niches and manage pest insects. While r...

Intersecting experimental evolution and CRISPR screens to identify novel insecticide resistance loci
Marconcini, Cruchet, Goswami, Viswanatha, Butnaru, De, Roselli, Hadjieconomou, Perrimon, Mohr, Benton
bioRxiv 2025.07.23.666417; doi: doi.org/10.1101/2025...

ScGOclust: leveraging gene ontology to find functionally analogous cell types between distant species.
Song Y, Hu Y, Dow J, Perrimon N, Papatheodorou I. Bioinformatics. 2025 Jul 1;41(Supplement_1):i571-i579. doi: 10.1093/bioinformatics/btaf195. PMID: 40662793

Higher resolution pooled genome-wide CRISPR knockout screening in Drosophila cells using integration and anti-CRISPR (IntAC) - Nature Communications Genome-wide CRISPR screens map how genes support survival and contribute to diverse biological functions. Here, the authors use antiCRISPR to enhance genome-wide CRISPR screening in Drosophila and gen...

New Paper:
Viswanatha , Entwisle, Hu, Kim, Reap, Butnaru, Qadiri, Mohr, Perrimon
Higher resolution pooled genome-wide
CRISPR knockout screening in Drosophila
cells using integration and anti-
CRISPR (IntAC) Nature Communications
doi.org/10.1038/s414...

Multi-omic mapping of Drosophila protein secretomes reveals tissue-specific origins and inter-organ trafficking Secreted proteins regulate many aspects of animal biology and are attractive targets for biomarkers and therapeutics. However, comprehensively identifying the "secretome", along with their tissues of ...

New paper: Multi-omic mapping of Drosophila protein secretomes reveals tissue-specific origins and inter-organ trafficking
Bosch et al.
doi: doi.org/10.1101/2025...

New paper: Cholinergic Signaling Modulates Intestinal Pathophysiology in a Drosophila Model of Cystic Fibrosis
Elizabeth Lane, Afroditi Petsakou, Ying Liu, Weihang Chen, Mujeeb Qadiri, Yanhui Hu, Norbert Perrimon
doi: doi.org/10.1101/2025...

The Drosophila proventriculus lacks stem cells but compensates for age-related cell loss via endoreplication-mediated cell growth The Drosophila proventriculus is a bulb-shaped structure at the juncture of the foregut and the midgut, which plays important roles in ingestion, peritrophic membrane synthesis, and the immune respons...

New paper: Ben Ewen-Campen, Weihang Chen, Sudhir Gopal Tattikota, Ying Liu, Yanhui Hu, Norbert Perrimon The Drosophila proventriculus lacks stem cells but compensates for age-related cell loss via endoreplication-mediated cell growth
doi: doi.org/10.1101/2025...

Kang et al. (2025) NF-κB-mediated developmental delay extends lifespan in Drosophila PNAS. 122(19):e2420811122. doi: 10.1073/pnas.2420811122.

Xiao, G. et al. (2025). Intratumor HIF-1a modulates production of a cachectic ligand to cause host wasting. Cell Insight. doi: 10.1016/j.cellin.2025.100247. PMID: 40336592

TF2TG: an online resource mining the potential gene targets of transcription factors in Drosophila.
Hu Y, Rodiger J, Liu Y, Gao C, Liu Y, Qadiri M, Veal A, Bulyk ML, Perrimon N. Genetics. 2025 May 2:iyaf082. doi: 10.1093/genetics/iyaf082. Online ahead of print. PMID: 40314147