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剧烈的行为和生理变化。在本研究中使用的模式生物黑腹果蝇（Drosophila melanogaster）中，交配后的雌性会拒绝后续的交配尝试，增加排卵和产卵率，将精子储存数周，并显示出寿命的变化。雄性在交配过程中传递给雌性的蛋白质，以及雌性产生的蛋白质，是造成这种变化的部分原因。本研究将重点关注一类可能参与生殖的特定蛋白质，包括蛋白酶和蛋白酶抑制剂，其生化作用是调节其他蛋白质的裂解。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，并具有潜在的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调查的蛋白质相似的蛋白质来操纵害虫物种的繁殖过程（即防止繁殖）。此外，至少有一种人类疾病，即前列腺癌，与生殖蛋白酶抑制剂的突变有关。由于醋蝇在实验上比大多数其他生物更容易控制，它代表了一个很好的系统，可以了解生殖蛋白酶和蛋白酶抑制剂的功能和进化。从这些实验中吸取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.