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Koon AC, Chan HYE. Drosophila melanogaster As a Model Organism to Study RNA Toxicity of Repeat Expansion-Associated Neurodegenerative and Neuromuscular Diseases. Front Cell Neurosci 2017; 11:70. [PMID: 28377694 PMCID: PMC5359753 DOI: 10.3389/fncel.2017.00070] [Citation(s) in RCA: 11] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.6] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/12/2017] [Accepted: 02/27/2017] [Indexed: 12/14/2022] Open
Abstract
For nearly a century, the fruit fly, Drosophila melanogaster, has proven to be a valuable tool in our understanding of fundamental biological processes, and has empowered our discoveries, particularly in the field of neuroscience. In recent years, Drosophila has emerged as a model organism for human neurodegenerative and neuromuscular disorders. In this review, we highlight a number of recent studies that utilized the Drosophila model to study repeat-expansion associated diseases (READs), such as polyglutamine diseases, fragile X-associated tremor/ataxia syndrome (FXTAS), myotonic dystrophy type 1 (DM1) and type 2 (DM2), and C9ORF72-associated amyotrophic lateral sclerosis/frontotemporal dementia (C9-ALS/FTD). Discoveries regarding the possible mechanisms of RNA toxicity will be focused here. These studies demonstrate Drosophila as an excellent in vivo model system that can reveal novel mechanistic insights into human disorders, providing the foundation for translational research and therapeutic development.
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Affiliation(s)
- Alex C Koon
- Laboratory of Drosophila ResearchHong Kong, Hong Kong; Biochemistry ProgramHong Kong, Hong Kong
| | - Ho Yin Edwin Chan
- Laboratory of Drosophila ResearchHong Kong, Hong Kong; Biochemistry ProgramHong Kong, Hong Kong; Cell and Molecular Biology ProgramHong Kong, Hong Kong; Molecular Biotechnology Program, Faculty of Science, School of Life SciencesHong Kong, Hong Kong; School of Life Sciences, Gerald Choa Neuroscience Centre, The Chinese University of Hong KongHong Kong, Hong Kong
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2
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Bohnekamp J, Cryderman DE, Thiemann DA, Magin TM, Wallrath LL. Using Drosophila for Studies of Intermediate Filaments. Methods Enzymol 2015; 568:707-26. [PMID: 26795490 DOI: 10.1016/bs.mie.2015.08.028] [Citation(s) in RCA: 8] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.9] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 12/18/2022]
Abstract
Drosophila melanogaster is a useful organism for determining protein function and modeling human disease. Drosophila offers a rapid generation time and an abundance of genomic resources and genetic tools. Conservation in protein structure, signaling pathways, and developmental processes make studies performed in Drosophila relevant to other species, including humans. Drosophila models have been generated for neurodegenerative diseases, muscular dystrophy, cancer, and many other disorders. Recently, intermediate filament protein diseases have been modeled in Drosophila. These models have revealed novel mechanisms of pathology, illuminated potential new routes of therapy, and make whole organism compound screens feasible. The goal of this chapter is to outline steps to study intermediate filament function and model intermediate filament-associated diseases in Drosophila. The steps are general and can be applied to study the function of almost any protein. The protocols outlined here are for both the novice and experienced Drosophila researcher, allowing the rich developmental and cell biology that Drosophila offers to be applied to studies of intermediate filaments.
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Affiliation(s)
- Jens Bohnekamp
- Institute of Biology and Translational Center for Regenerative Medicine, University of Leipzig, Leipzig, Germany
| | - Diane E Cryderman
- Department of Biochemistry, University of Iowa, Iowa City, Iowa, USA
| | - Dylan A Thiemann
- Department of Biochemistry, University of Iowa, Iowa City, Iowa, USA
| | - Thomas M Magin
- Institute of Biology and Translational Center for Regenerative Medicine, University of Leipzig, Leipzig, Germany.
| | - Lori L Wallrath
- Department of Biochemistry, University of Iowa, Iowa City, Iowa, USA.
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3
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Santarriaga S, Petersen A, Ndukwe K, Brandt A, Gerges N, Bruns Scaglione J, Scaglione KM. The Social Amoeba Dictyostelium discoideum Is Highly Resistant to Polyglutamine Aggregation. J Biol Chem 2015; 290:25571-8. [PMID: 26330554 DOI: 10.1074/jbc.m115.676247] [Citation(s) in RCA: 24] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/01/2015] [Indexed: 11/06/2022] Open
Abstract
The expression, misfolding, and aggregation of long repetitive amino acid tracts are a major contributing factor in a number of neurodegenerative diseases, including C9ORF72 amyotrophic lateral sclerosis/frontotemporal dementia, fragile X tremor ataxia syndrome, myotonic dystrophy type 1, spinocerebellar ataxia type 8, and the nine polyglutamine diseases. Protein aggregation is a hallmark of each of these diseases. In model organisms, including yeast, worms, flies, mice, rats, and human cells, expression of proteins with the long repetitive amino acid tracts associated with these diseases recapitulates the protein aggregation that occurs in human disease. Here we show that the model organism Dictyostelium discoideum has evolved to normally encode long polyglutamine tracts and express these proteins in a soluble form. We also show that Dictyostelium has the capacity to suppress aggregation of a polyglutamine-expanded Huntingtin construct that aggregates in other model organisms tested. Together, these data identify Dictyostelium as a novel model organism with the capacity to suppress aggregation of proteins with long polyglutamine tracts.
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Affiliation(s)
- Stephanie Santarriaga
- From the Departments of Biochemistry and the Neuroscience Research Center, The Medical College of Wisconsin, Milwaukee, Wisconsin 53226 and
| | - Amber Petersen
- the Neuroscience Research Center, The Medical College of Wisconsin, Milwaukee, Wisconsin 53226 and Cell Biology, Neurobiology, and Anatomy and
| | - Kelechi Ndukwe
- From the Departments of Biochemistry and the Neuroscience Research Center, The Medical College of Wisconsin, Milwaukee, Wisconsin 53226 and
| | - Anthony Brandt
- From the Departments of Biochemistry and the Neuroscience Research Center, The Medical College of Wisconsin, Milwaukee, Wisconsin 53226 and
| | - Nashaat Gerges
- the Neuroscience Research Center, The Medical College of Wisconsin, Milwaukee, Wisconsin 53226 and Cell Biology, Neurobiology, and Anatomy and
| | - Jamie Bruns Scaglione
- From the Departments of Biochemistry and the Neuroscience Research Center, The Medical College of Wisconsin, Milwaukee, Wisconsin 53226 and the Department of Computational and Physical Sciences, Carroll University, Waukesha, Wisconsin 53186
| | - Kenneth Matthew Scaglione
- From the Departments of Biochemistry and the Neuroscience Research Center, The Medical College of Wisconsin, Milwaukee, Wisconsin 53226 and
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Diez-Hermano S, Valero J, Rueda C, Ganfornina MD, Sanchez D. An automated image analysis method to measure regularity in biological patterns: a case study in a Drosophila neurodegenerative model. Mol Neurodegener 2015; 10:9. [PMID: 25887846 PMCID: PMC4367968 DOI: 10.1186/s13024-015-0005-z] [Citation(s) in RCA: 13] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.4] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/26/2014] [Accepted: 02/12/2015] [Indexed: 11/29/2022] Open
Abstract
The fruitfly compound eye has been broadly used as a model for neurodegenerative diseases. Classical quantitative techniques to estimate the degeneration level of an eye under certain experimental conditions rely either on time consuming histological techniques to measure retinal thickness, or pseudopupil visualization and manual counting. Alternatively, visual examination of the eye surface appearance gives only a qualitative approximation provided the observer is well-trained. Therefore, there is a need for a simplified and standardized analysis of fruitfly eye degeneration extent for both routine laboratory use and for automated high-throughput analysis. We have designed the freely available ImageJ plugin FLEYE, a novel and user-friendly method for quantitative unbiased evaluation of neurodegeneration levels based on the acquisition of fly eye surface pictures. The incorporation of automated image analysis tools and a classification algorithm sustained on a built-in statistical model allow the user to quickly analyze large sample size data with reliability and robustness. Pharmacological screenings or genetic studies using the Drosophila retina as a model system may benefit from our method, because it can be easily implemented in a fully automated environment. In addition, FLEYE can be trained to optimize the image detection capabilities, resulting in a versatile approach to evaluate the pattern regularity of other biological or non-biological samples and their experimental or pathological disruption.
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Affiliation(s)
- Sergio Diez-Hermano
- Instituto de Biología y Genética Molecular-Departamento de Bioquímica y Biología Molecular y Fisiología, Universidad de Valladolid-CSIC, c/ Sanz y Forés 3, Valladolid, Spain.
| | - Jorge Valero
- Center for Neuroscience and Cell Biology. Mitochondrial Dysfunction and Signaling in Neurodegeneration group. University of Coimbra, Coimbra, Portugal.
| | - Cristina Rueda
- Instituto de Matemáticas (IMUVA), Universidad de Valladolid, Valladolid, Spain.
| | - Maria D Ganfornina
- Instituto de Biología y Genética Molecular-Departamento de Bioquímica y Biología Molecular y Fisiología, Universidad de Valladolid-CSIC, c/ Sanz y Forés 3, Valladolid, Spain.
| | - Diego Sanchez
- Instituto de Biología y Genética Molecular-Departamento de Bioquímica y Biología Molecular y Fisiología, Universidad de Valladolid-CSIC, c/ Sanz y Forés 3, Valladolid, Spain.
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Shiraishi R, Tamura T, Sone M, Okazawa H. Systematic analysis of fly models with multiple drivers reveals different effects of ataxin-1 and huntingtin in neuron subtype-specific expression. PLoS One 2014; 9:e116567. [PMID: 25551764 PMCID: PMC4281079 DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0116567] [Citation(s) in RCA: 9] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.9] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/08/2012] [Accepted: 12/11/2014] [Indexed: 11/25/2022] Open
Abstract
The fruit fly, Drosophila melanogaster, is a commonly used model organism for neurodegenerative diseases. Its major advantages include a short lifespan and its susceptibility to manipulation using sophisticated genetic techniques. Here, we report the systematic comparison of fly models of two polyglutamine (polyQ) diseases. We induced expression of the normal and mutant forms of full-length Ataxin-1 and Huntingtin exon 1 in cholinergic, dopaminergic, and motor neurons, and glial cells using cell type-specific drivers. We systematically analyzed their effects based on multiple phenotypes: eclosion rate, lifespan, motor performance, and circadian rhythms of spontaneous activity. This systematic assay system enabled us to quantitatively evaluate and compare the functional disabilities of different genotypes. The results suggest different effects of Ataxin-1 and Huntingtin on specific types of neural cells during development and in adulthood. In addition, we confirmed the therapeutic effects of LiCl and butyrate using representative models. These results support the usefulness of this assay system for screening candidate chemical compounds that modify the pathologies of polyQ diseases.
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Affiliation(s)
- Risa Shiraishi
- Department of Neuropathology, Medical Research Institute and Center for Brain Integrative Research, Tokyo Medical and Dental University, Yushima, Bunkyo-ku, Tokyo, Japan
| | - Takuya Tamura
- Department of Neuropathology, Medical Research Institute and Center for Brain Integrative Research, Tokyo Medical and Dental University, Yushima, Bunkyo-ku, Tokyo, Japan
| | - Masaki Sone
- Department of Biomolecular Science, Faculty of Science, Toho University, Miyama, Funabashi, Chiba, Japan
| | - Hitoshi Okazawa
- Department of Neuropathology, Medical Research Institute and Center for Brain Integrative Research, Tokyo Medical and Dental University, Yushima, Bunkyo-ku, Tokyo, Japan
- * E-mail:
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Chan HYE. RNA-mediated pathogenic mechanisms in polyglutamine diseases and amyotrophic lateral sclerosis. Front Cell Neurosci 2014; 8:431. [PMID: 25565965 PMCID: PMC4271607 DOI: 10.3389/fncel.2014.00431] [Citation(s) in RCA: 21] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.1] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/26/2014] [Accepted: 11/29/2014] [Indexed: 12/12/2022] Open
Abstract
Gene transcription produces a wide variety of ribonucleic acid (RNA) species in eukaryotes. Individual types of RNA, such as messenger, structural and regulatory RNA, are known to play distinct roles in the cell. Recently, researchers have identified a large number of RNA-mediated toxicity pathways that play significant pathogenic roles in numerous human disorders. In this article, we describe various common RNA toxicity pathways, namely epigenetic gene silencing, nucleolar stress, nucleocytoplasmic transport, bi-directional gene transcription, repeat-associated non-ATG translation, RNA foci formation and cellular protein sequestration. We emphasize RNA toxicity mechanisms that involve nucleotide repeat expansion, such as those related to polyglutamine (polyQ) disorders and frontotemporal lobar degeneration-amyotrophic lateral sclerosis.
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Affiliation(s)
- Ho Yin Edwin Chan
- Laboratory of Drosophila Research, School of Life Sciences, Faculty of Science, The Chinese University of Hong Kong Hong Kong, China ; Biochemistry Programme, School of Life Sciences, Faculty of Science, The Chinese University of Hong Kong Hong Kong, China
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Yu Z, Goodman LD, Shieh SY, Min M, Teng X, Zhu Y, Bonini NM. A fly model for the CCUG-repeat expansion of myotonic dystrophy type 2 reveals a novel interaction with MBNL1. Hum Mol Genet 2014; 24:954-62. [PMID: 25305073 DOI: 10.1093/hmg/ddu507] [Citation(s) in RCA: 14] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.4] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 01/24/2023] Open
Abstract
Expanded non-coding RNA repeats of CUG and CCUG are the underlying genetic causes for myotonic dystrophy type 1 (DM1) and type 2 (DM2), respectively. A gain-of-function of these pathogenic repeat expansions is mediated at least in part by their abnormal interactions with RNA-binding proteins such as MBNL1 and resultant loss of activity of these proteins. To study pathogenic mechanisms of CCUG-repeat expansions in an animal model, we created a fly model of DM2 that expresses pure, uninterrupted CCUG-repeat expansions ranging from 16 to 720 repeats in length. We show that this fly model for DM2 recapitulates key features of human DM2 including RNA repeat-induced toxicity, ribonuclear foci formation and changes in alternative splicing. Interestingly, expression of two isoforms of MBNL1, MBNL135 and MBNL140, leads to cleavage and concurrent upregulation of the levels of the RNA-repeat transcripts, with MBNL140 having more significant effects than MBNL135. This property is shared with a fly CUG-repeat expansion model. Our results suggest a novel mechanism for interaction between the pathogenic RNA repeat expansions of myotonic dystrophy and MBNL1.
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Affiliation(s)
| | - Lindsey D Goodman
- Neurosciences Graduate Group, Perelman School of Medicine, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, PA 19104, USA
| | | | | | | | | | - Nancy M Bonini
- Department of Biology and Neurosciences Graduate Group, Perelman School of Medicine, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, PA 19104, USA
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Zhang P, Wang Q, Hughes H, Intrieri G. Synthetic Lethality Induced by a Strong <i>Drosophila</i> Enhancer of Expanded Polyglutamine Tract. ACTA ACUST UNITED AC 2014. [DOI: 10.4236/ojgen.2014.44028] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.2] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/20/2022]
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9
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Abstract
Drosophila melanogaster has been widely used as a model of human Mendelian disease, but its value in modeling complex disease has received little attention. Fly models of complex disease would enable high-resolution mapping of disease-modifying loci and the identification of novel targets for therapeutic intervention. Here, we describe a fly model of permanent neonatal diabetes mellitus and explore the complexity of this model. The approach involves the transgenic expression of a misfolded mutant of human preproinsulin, hINSC96Y, which is a cause of permanent neonatal diabetes. When expressed in fly imaginal discs, hINSC96Y causes a reduction of adult structures, including the eye, wing, and notum. Eye imaginal discs exhibit defects in both the structure and the arrangement of ommatidia. In the wing, expression of hINSC96Y leads to ectopic expression of veins and mechano-sensory organs, indicating disruption of wild-type signaling processes regulating cell fates. These readily measurable “disease” phenotypes are sensitive to temperature, gene dose, and sex. Mutant (but not wild-type) proinsulin expression in the eye imaginal disc induces IRE1-mediated XBP1 alternative splicing, a signal for endoplasmic reticulum stress response activation, and produces global change in gene expression. Mutant hINS transgene tester strains, when crossed to stocks from the Drosophila Genetic Reference Panel, produce F1 adults with a continuous range of disease phenotypes and large broad-sense heritability. Surprisingly, the severity of mutant hINS-induced disease in the eye is not correlated with that in the notum in these crosses, nor with eye reduction phenotypes caused by the expression of two dominant eye mutants acting in two different eye development pathways, Drop (Dr) or Lobe (L), when crossed into the same genetic backgrounds. The tissue specificity of genetic variability for mutant hINS-induced disease has, therefore, its own distinct signature. The genetic dominance of disease-specific phenotypic variability in our model of misfolded human proinsulin makes this approach amenable to genome-wide association study in a simple F1 screen of natural variation.
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Kuo Y, Ren S, Lao U, Edgar BA, Wang T. Suppression of polyglutamine protein toxicity by co-expression of a heat-shock protein 40 and a heat-shock protein 110. Cell Death Dis 2013; 4:e833. [PMID: 24091676 PMCID: PMC3824661 DOI: 10.1038/cddis.2013.351] [Citation(s) in RCA: 62] [Impact Index Per Article: 5.6] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/14/2013] [Revised: 07/29/2013] [Accepted: 08/12/2013] [Indexed: 01/17/2023]
Abstract
A network of heat-shock proteins mediates cellular protein homeostasis, and has a fundamental role in preventing aggregation-associated neurodegenerative diseases. In a Drosophila model of polyglutamine (polyQ) disease, the HSP40 family protein, DNAJ-1, is a superior suppressor of toxicity caused by the aggregation of polyQ containing proteins. Here, we demonstrate that one specific HSP110 protein, 70 kDa heat-shock cognate protein cb (HSC70cb), interacts physically and genetically with DNAJ-1 in vivo, and that HSC70cb is necessary for DNAJ-1 to suppress polyglutamine-induced cell death in Drosophila. Expression of HSC70cb together with DNAJ-1 significantly enhanced the suppressive effects of DNAJ-1 on polyQ-induced neurodegeneration, whereas expression of HSC70cb alone did not suppress neurodegeneration in Drosophila models of either general polyQ disease or Huntington's disease. Furthermore, expression of a human HSP40, DNAJB1, together with a human HSP110, APG-1, protected cells from polyQ-induced neural degeneration in flies, whereas expression of either component alone had little effect. Our data provide a functional link between HSP40 and HSP110 in suppressing the cytotoxicity of aggregation-prone proteins, and suggest that HSP40 and HSP110 function together in protein homeostasis control.
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Affiliation(s)
- Y Kuo
- Division of Basic Sciences, National Institute of Biological Sciences, Beijing, China
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Même S, Joudiou N, Szeremeta F, Mispelter J, Louat F, Decoville M, Locker D, Beloeil JC. In vivo magnetic resonance microscopy of Drosophilae at 9.4 T. Magn Reson Imaging 2012; 31:109-19. [PMID: 22898691 DOI: 10.1016/j.mri.2012.06.019] [Citation(s) in RCA: 7] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.6] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/17/2012] [Revised: 05/16/2012] [Accepted: 06/25/2012] [Indexed: 10/28/2022]
Abstract
In preclinical research, genetic studies have made considerable progress as a result of the development of transgenic animal models of human diseases. Consequently, there is now a need for higher resolution MRI to provide finer details for studies of small animals (rats, mice) or very small animals (insects). One way to address this issue is to work with high-magnetic-field spectrometers (dedicated to small animal imaging) with strong magnetic field gradients. It is also necessary to develop a complete methodology (transmit/receive coil, pulse sequence, fixing system, air supply, anesthesia capabilities, etc.). In this study, we developed noninvasive protocols, both in vitro and in vivo (from coil construction to image generation), for drosophila MRI at 9.4 T. The 10 10 80-μm resolution makes it possible to visualize whole drosophila (head, thorax, abdomen) and internal organs (ovaries, longitudinal and transverse muscles, bowel, proboscis, antennae and optical lobes). We also provide some results obtained with a Drosophila model of muscle degeneration. This opens the way for new applications of structural genetic modification studies using MRI of drosophila.
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Affiliation(s)
- Sandra Même
- Centre de Biophysique Moléculaire, CNRS UPR4301, Orléans, France.
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