Dissertation Research: The Roles of Proteolytic Proteins in Regulating Post-mating Behaviors in Drosophila melanogaster - Evolutionary and Functional Investigations

许多物种的雌性在交配后会经历戏剧性的行为和生理变化。 在醋蝇黑腹果蝇（Drosophila melanogaster）中，本研究中使用的模式生物，交配的雌性拒绝随后的交配尝试，增加排卵和产卵率，储存精子数周，并显示寿命的变化。雄性在交配过程中转移给雌性的蛋白质，以及雌性产生的蛋白质，是造成这种变化的部分原因。 这项研究将集中在一个特定的蛋白质类可能参与生殖，蛋白酶和蛋白酶抑制剂，其生化作用是调节其他蛋白质的切割组成。 编码这些生殖蛋白酶和蛋白酶抑制剂的基因将从进化和功能的角度进行表征。 这项工作将阐明生殖蛋白酶和蛋白酶抑制剂在其他物种中的作用，并可能实际扩展到害虫控制和人类疾病。 例如，有可能通过与本研究中研究的蛋白质类似的蛋白质来操纵害虫物种的繁殖过程（即阻止繁殖）。 此外，至少一种人类疾病，前列腺癌，与生殖蛋白酶抑制剂的突变有关。 由于醋蝇比大多数其他生物更易于实验，因此它代表了一个很好的系统，可以用来了解生殖蛋白酶和蛋白酶抑制剂的功能和进化。 从这些实验中获得的经验教训应该适用于经济关注的生物体和人类。

Females of many species undergo dramatic behavioral and physiological changes following mating. In the vinegar fly Drosophila melanogaster, the model organism to be used in this study, mated females reject subsequent mating attempts, increase rates of ovulation and egg-laying, store sperm for several weeks, and show a change in lifespan. Proteins transferred to females by males during mating, as well as proteins produced by females, are partially responsible for such changes. This study will focus on a particular class of proteins potentially involved in reproduction, consisting of proteases and protease inhibitors, whose biochemical role is to regulate the cleavage of other proteins. Genes encoding these reproductive proteases and protease inhibitors will be characterized from evolutionary and functional standpoints. This work will shed light on the roles of reproductive proteases and protease inhibitors in other species, with potential practical extensions to pest control and human disease. For example, there is potential to manipulate the reproductive processes of pest species (i.e. prevent reproduction) through proteins similar to those under investigation in this study. Furthermore, at least one human disease, prostate cancer, is associated with a mutation in a reproductive protease inhibitor. Since the vinegar fly is more experimentally tractable than most other organisms, it represents a good system in which to learn about the functions and evolution of reproductive proteases and protease inhibitors. The lessons learned from these experiments should find applicability in organisms of economic concern, and in humans.