Caenorhabditis elegans has a single pathway to target matrix proteins to peroxisomes

Rosy Beginnings: Studying Peroxisomes in Drosophila

Research using the fruit fly Drosophila melanogaster has traditionally focused on understanding how mutations affecting gene regulation or function affect processes linked to animal development. Accordingly, flies have become an essential foundation of modern medical research through repeated contributions to our fundamental understanding of how their homologs of human genes function. Peroxisomes are organelles that metabolize lipids and reactive oxygen species like peroxides. However, despite clear linkage of mutations in human genes affecting peroxisomes to developmental defects, for many years fly models were conspicuously absent from the study of peroxisomes. Now, the few early studies linking the Rosy eye color phenotype to peroxisomes in flies have been joined by a growing body of research establishing novel roles for peroxisomes during the development or function of specific tissues or cell types. Similarly, unique properties of cultured fly Schneider 2 cells have advanced our understanding of how peroxisomes move on the cytoskeleton. Here, we profile how those past and more recent Drosophila studies started to link specific effects of peroxisome dysfunction to organ development and highlight the utility of flies as a model for human peroxisomal diseases. We also identify key differences in the function and proliferation of fly peroxisomes compared to yeast or mammals. Finally, we discuss the future of the fly model system for peroxisome research including new techniques that should support identification of additional tissue specific regulation of and roles for peroxisomes.

Crosstalk between mitochondria and peroxisomes

Mitochondria and peroxisomes are small ubiquitous organelles. They both play major roles in cell metabolism, especially in terms of fatty acid metabolism, reactive oxygen species (ROS) production, and ROS scavenging, and it is now clear that they metabolically interact with each other. These two organelles share some properties, such as great plasticity and high potency to adapt their form and number according to cell requirements. Their functions are connected, and any alteration in the function of mitochondria may induce changes in peroxisomal physiology. The objective of this paper was to highlight the interconnection and the crosstalk existing between mitochondria and peroxisomes. Special emphasis was placed on the best known connections between these organelles: origin, structure, and metabolic interconnections.