Construction of a lipid-based barrier against dehydration in Drosophila melanogaster

果蝇抗脱水脂质屏障的构建

• 批准号: 269083421
• 负责人: Privatdozent Dr. Bernard Moussian
• 金额: --
• 依托单位: Abteilung Genetik der Tiere
• 依托单位国家: 德国
• 项目类别: Research Grants
• 财政年份: 2014
• 资助国家: 德国
• 起止时间: 2013-12-31 至 2015-12-31
• 项目状态: 已结题
• 来源: https://gepris.dfg.de/gepris/projekt/269083421?language=en
• 关键词: Construction; lipid; based; barrier; against

Organisms need to protect themselves against desiccation after birth. Generally, in vertebrates and invertebrates, lipids are incorporated into the skin during its terminal differentiation in the embryo in order to establish a barrier preventing uncontrolled water loss. Since the 30's of the last century it is postulated that a histologically identified, but yet molecularly uncharacterised catecholamine-lipid-protein complex named cuticulin is a crucial element of the waterproofness of the cuticle, the extracellular part of the insect skin. It has also been shown that free lipids at the surface of insects contribute to desiccation resistance. The molecular mechanisms of lipid incorporation and assembly in the insect cuticle are largely unstudied.In the present project, I propose to investigate the roles of the genetically identified Snustorr (Snu), Torr and Snustorr snarlik (Snsl) proteins in establishing a lipid-based waterproof barrier in the fruit fly Drosophila melanogaster. Especially in larvae mutant for snu (coding - like torr - for an ABC transporter) and snsl (coding for an extracellular protein) the presumptive waterproof layer of the cuticle is severely damaged. Consistently, histological detection of cuticulin fails in these mutant embryos. In brief, I hypothesise that Snsl stabilises extracellular lipids and that the substrates of Snu and perhaps Torr are needed for this process thereby driving the formation of the cuticular waterproof barrier. In a series of live imaging microscopy experiments using tagged cuticle proteins and marked lipids, combined with elaborate electron microscopy, I seek to unravel the systemic and cellular pathways of lipid-based barrier formation and integrate the function of Snu, Torr and Snsl in these processes. By this, this work would contribute to the understanding of cuticulin, a classical and central problem in molecular biology. The data may serve to develop insect-specific pesticides for intelligent, ecologically correct pest management. Moreover, live imaging of lipid distribution during organ differentiation constitutes a pioneering work in the field.

生物体在出生后需要保护自己免受干燥。通常，在脊椎动物和无脊椎动物中，脂质在胚胎的终末分化期间被掺入皮肤中，以建立防止不受控制的水分流失的屏障。自上个世纪30年代以来，假定组织学上鉴定的但分子上未表征的称为角质蛋白的儿茶酚胺-脂质-蛋白质复合物是角质层（昆虫皮肤的细胞外部分）防水性的关键要素。研究还表明，昆虫表面的游离脂质有助于抗干燥性。昆虫角质层中脂质掺入和组装的分子机制在很大程度上是unstudied.在本项目中，我建议调查的作用，遗传鉴定的Snustorr（Snu），Torr和Snustorr snarlik（Snsl）蛋白在建立一个基于脂质的防水屏障果蝇。特别是在snu（编码ABC转运蛋白）和snsl（编码细胞外蛋白）突变的幼虫中，角质层的假定防水层受到严重破坏。因此，表皮蛋白的组织学检测在这些突变胚胎中失败。简而言之，我假设Snsl稳定细胞外脂质，并且Snu和也许Torr的底物是该过程所需的，从而驱动表皮防水屏障的形成。在一系列的现场成像显微镜实验中，使用标记的角质层蛋白质和标记的脂质，结合精心制作的电子显微镜，我试图解开系统和细胞的脂质为基础的屏障形成的途径，并整合在这些过程中的Snu，Torr和Snsl的功能。通过这一点，这项工作将有助于理解角质蛋白，一个经典的和核心的问题，在分子生物学。这些数据可能有助于开发针对昆虫的杀虫剂，用于智能的、生态上正确的害虫管理。此外，器官分化过程中脂质分布的实时成像构成了该领域的开创性工作。