The Glycolytic Pathway and the Physiological Genetics of Flight Metabolism

该奖项是根据2009年美国复苏和再投资法案（公法111-5）资助的。这个研究项目探讨了生理学中的一个核心问题，“肌肉的最佳表现需要什么水平的代谢酶？”矛盾的是，大多数研究表明，肌肉中的酶水平高于最佳表现所必需的水平。研究这些酶的水平和肌肉表现之间的关系需要一个实验系统，在这个系统中，肌肉需要在极端情况下运作。飞虫是研究高性能运动的理想系统，因为它们拍打翅膀，从而收缩肌肉，每秒数百次。然而，在多大程度上改变与能量产生有关的酶的活动会损害肌肉的新陈代谢和飞行能力，目前还不清楚。为了解决这个问题，将对果蝇进行基因改造，以降低或增加从糖中产生能量的关键酶的水平。这些苍蝇的飞行表现将被高速摄像机监控。这项研究可能为人类疾病提供重要的见解，因为这些酶的突变与人类许多代谢紊乱有关。该项目还将为研究生和本科生提供遗传学、生物化学和实验设计方面的实践培训。

This award is funded under the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 (Public Law 111-5).This research project explores a central question in physiology, "what are the required levels of metabolic enzymes for the optimal performance of muscles?" Paradoxically, most studies suggest that muscles possess higher enzyme levels than is necessary for optimal performance. Studying the relationship between the levels of these enzymes and muscle performance requires an experimental system where muscles are required to operate at extremes. Flying insects are an ideal system for studying high performance exercise because they beat their wings, and consequently flex their muscles, hundreds of times a second. It is not known, however, to what extent altering the activities of the enzymes involved in energy production will impair muscle metabolism and flight ability. To address this issue, fruit flies will be genetically manipulated in order to reduce or increase the levels of critical enzymes involved in the production of energy from sugars. The flight performance of these flies will then be monitored with high speed video cameras. This research may provide important insights into human disease because mutations of these same enzymes are implicated in many metabolic disorders in humans. This project will also afford graduate and undergraduate students with hands-on training in genetics, biochemistry, and experimental design.