Macroautophagy in Drosophila development

果蝇发育中的巨自噬

• 批准号: RGPIN-2015-04982
• 负责人: Gorski, Sharon
• 金额: $ 2.77万
• 依托单位: Simon Fraser University
• 依托单位国家: 加拿大
• 项目类别: Discovery Grants Program - Individual
• 财政年份: 2015
• 资助国家: 加拿大
• 起止时间: 2015-01-01 至 2016-12-31
• 项目状态: 已结题
• 来源: https://www.nserc-crsng.gc.ca/ase-oro/Details-Detailles_eng.asp?id=590148
• 关键词: Macroautophagy; Drosophila; development

A biological process called autophagy has garnered enormous attention recently due to its association with aging, nutrient metabolism, stress and human diseases. Autophagy literally means "self-eating" and describes a process in which cells, components of tissues in our bodies, degrade parts of themselves for recycling and re-use. This process typically serves to maintain homeostasis but it can also act as an adaptive response, enabling cells to survive conditions of stress such as nutrient deprivation. Accumulating evidence indicates that autophagy is also involved in numerous developmental processes such as cell growth, tissue remodeling, removal of cell fragments, acquisition of cellular traits and longevity. However, the mechanisms by which autophagy impacts these developmental processes remain ill defined. The long-term goal of my research program is to elucidate the functions of autophagy in normal development in the context of a whole organism. To achieve this goal, my trainees and I will utilize a simple model organism system, the fruit fly, which shares many genetic and cellular components with humans including those required for autophagy. The short-term goal of this proposal is to examine the links between autophagy and lipid metabolism. It is important to understand these links because the regulation of lipid metabolism may be one essential way that autophagy impacts animal development and stress responses, and because we know that lipids themselves are crucial for processes such as growth, energy storage and cell signaling. In this study, we will identify new regulators of autophagy and lipid metabolism, and elucidate the consequences to an organism when these regulators are altered.

一种称为自噬的生物过程最近引起了人们的极大关注，因为它与衰老、营养代谢、压力和人类疾病有关。自噬的字面意思是“自食”，描述了一个过程，在这个过程中，细胞，我们体内组织的组成部分，降解自己的一部分，以回收和再利用。这个过程通常用于维持体内平衡，但它也可以作为一种适应性反应，使细胞能够在营养缺乏等压力条件下生存。越来越多的证据表明，自噬也参与许多发育过程，如细胞生长，组织重塑，细胞碎片的去除，细胞性状的获得和寿命。然而，自噬影响这些发育过程的机制仍然不清楚。我的研究计划的长期目标是阐明自噬在整个有机体的正常发育中的功能。为了实现这一目标，我和我的学员将利用一个简单的模式生物系统，果蝇，它与人类共享许多遗传和细胞成分，包括自噬所需的成分。这项提议的短期目标是研究自噬和脂质代谢之间的联系。了解这些联系很重要，因为脂质代谢的调节可能是自噬影响动物发育和应激反应的一种重要方式，而且我们知道脂质本身对生长，能量储存和细胞信号传导等过程至关重要。在这项研究中，我们将确定自噬和脂质代谢的新调节剂，并阐明当这些调节剂被改变时对生物体的影响。