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Mirzoyan Z, Valenza A, Zola S, Bonfanti C, Arnaboldi L, Ferrari N, Pollard J, Lupi V, Cassinelli M, Frattaroli M, Sahin M, Pasini ME, Bellosta P. A Drosophila model targets Eiger/TNFα to alleviate obesity-related insulin resistance and macrophage infiltration. Dis Model Mech 2023; 16:dmm050388. [PMID: 37828911 PMCID: PMC10651092 DOI: 10.1242/dmm.050388] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/12/2023] [Accepted: 10/05/2023] [Indexed: 10/14/2023] Open
Abstract
Obesity is associated with various metabolic disorders, such as insulin resistance and adipose tissue inflammation (ATM), characterized by macrophage infiltration into adipose cells. This study presents a new Drosophila model to investigate the mechanisms underlying these obesity-related pathologies. We employed genetic manipulation to reduce ecdysone levels to prolong the larval stage. These animals are hyperphagic and exhibit features resembling obesity in mammals, including increased lipid storage, adipocyte hypertrophy and high circulating glucose levels. Moreover, we observed significant infiltration of immune cells (hemocytes) into the fat bodies, accompanied by insulin resistance. We found that attenuation of Eiger/TNFα signaling reduced ATM and improved insulin sensitivity. Furthermore, using metformin and the antioxidants anthocyanins, we ameliorated both phenotypes. Our data highlight evolutionarily conserved mechanisms allowing the development of Drosophila models for discovering therapeutic pathways in adipose tissue immune cell infiltration and insulin resistance. Our model can also provide a platform to perform genetic screens or test the efficacy of therapeutic interventions for diseases such as obesity, type 2 diabetes and non-alcoholic fatty liver disease.
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Affiliation(s)
- Zhasmine Mirzoyan
- Department of Computational, Cellular and Integrative Biology (CIBIO), University of Trento, 38123 Trento, Italy
| | - Alice Valenza
- Department of Biosciences, University of Milan, 20133 Milan, Italy
| | - Sheri Zola
- Department of Computational, Cellular and Integrative Biology (CIBIO), University of Trento, 38123 Trento, Italy
| | - Carola Bonfanti
- Department of Biosciences, University of Milan, 20133 Milan, Italy
| | | | - Nicholas Ferrari
- Department of Computational, Cellular and Integrative Biology (CIBIO), University of Trento, 38123 Trento, Italy
| | - John Pollard
- Department of Biosciences, University of Milan, 20133 Milan, Italy
| | - Valeria Lupi
- Department of Biosciences, University of Milan, 20133 Milan, Italy
| | | | | | - Mehtap Sahin
- Department of Computational, Cellular and Integrative Biology (CIBIO), University of Trento, 38123 Trento, Italy
- Department of Biology, University of Ankara, 06110 Ankara, Turkey
| | | | - Paola Bellosta
- Department of Computational, Cellular and Integrative Biology (CIBIO), University of Trento, 38123 Trento, Italy
- Department of Medicine, NYU Langone Medical Center, 10016 New York, USA
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