Bg380 gal4

Flies expressing RaPrP-WT were described previously (Fernandez-Funez et al., 2010). The constructs carrying RaPrP-S174N, EqPrP-WT, EqPrP-SE167,168DQ, CaPrP-WT, CaPrP-D159N, and CaPrP-YD155,159DN cDNAs were synthesized at GenScript and cloned between EcoRI and NotI sites onto the pUAST Drosophila expression vector (Brand and Perrimon, 1993 (link)). The pUAST-based constructs were injected into yw embryos at Rainbow Transgenics following standard procedures (Rubin and Spradling, 1982 (link)) to generate multiple independent transgenic lines for each plasmid. The driver strains OK107-Gal4 (mushroom bodies), BG380-Gal4 (motor neurons), and da-Gal4 (ubiquitous), and the reporters UAS-LacZ and UAS-CD8-GFP were obtained from the Bloomington Drosophila Stock Center (http://fly.bio.indiana.edu). Fly stocks were maintained on standard Drosophila medium at 25°C. For experiments, homozygous females for the Gal4 strains were crossed with UAS males to generate progeny expressing PrP in the desired tissue. Crosses were placed at 25°C for two days, transferred to 28°C until the progeny completed development, and adults were aged at 28°C, unless otherwise indicated. All assays were performed using females.