Roles of macroautophagy in drosophila development

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A biological process called autophagy has recently garnered enormous attention due to its association with human diseases such as neurodegenerative disorders, bacterial and viral infections, and cancer. Autophagy literally means "self-eating" and describes a process where cells, components of tissues in our bodies, degrade parts of themselves for recycling and re-use. This degradation and recycling process typically serves as an adaptive response, enabling cells to survive conditions of stress such as nutrient deprivation. Similarly, autophagy can protect cells from damaging agents and in this way has been associated with various human diseases and disease treatments. In addition, there is evidence that autophagy is involved in numerous developmental processes such as cell growth, tissue remodeling, removal of cell fragments, acquisition of cellular traits, and longevity. However, the roles of autophagy in these developmental processes remain ill defined. The main objective of our research program is to elucidate the function of autophagy in normal development in the context of a whole organism. To achieve this goal, we will utilize a simple model organism system, the fruit fly, which shares many genetic and cellular components with humans including components required for autophagy. We will develop improved tools to study autophagy in this model system, and characterize autophagy throughout the normal fruit fly developmental lifecycle. Our program will include investigation of autophagy function in fruit fly stem cells which are specialized cells capable of self renewal and tissue generation. Insights gained from this study will likely provide invaluable insights into autophagy function in mammalian stem cells, including cancer stem cells. Overall, our investigations of autophagy function will contribute to our fundamental knowledge of its role in normal development and this will increase our understanding of its roles in human diseases and potential as a therapeutic target.