Application and extension of dye-based food consumption methodology in Drosophila

项目概要/摘要：在过去的100多年里，对黑腹果蝇（Drosophila melanogaster）的研究 苍蝇）对我们理解性别决定的遗传基础做出了巨大贡献， 发育、行为、衰老、疾病和许多其他正常以及病理生理过程。更 最近，苍蝇模型也被用来探索环境因素对健康的影响， 疾病研究的环境因素中，饮食是关键。改变苍蝇的饮食结构 对他们的生理、疾病标志物的进展和衰老的影响。例如，对苍蝇的饮食限制 (via减少营养物浓度）延长寿命，如在其他物种中发现的那样。苍蝇饮食的变化 也极大地影响产卵（资源利用的指标），并可能导致II型 糖尿病样状态此外，我们的初步研究表明，饮食对乙醇有明显的影响 果蝇的镇静行为鉴于苍蝇饮食的影响，正在进行的全球肥胖流行病和 随着肥胖相关疾病发病率的增加，对苍蝇的研究为继续研究 揭示饮食相关现象背后的关键机制，最终可以转化为改善 预防和治疗人类多种饮食相关疾病。因此，我们开始 开发基于染料的方法（Con-Ex）用于测量苍蝇的食物消耗。的总体目标 本申请中的研究是（i）使用我们先前建立的基于染料的Con-Ex进料方法， 染料Blue-1作为食物示踪剂，以评估改变寿命的饮食摄入量-重要的是在整个 寿命的苍蝇和（ii）扩大实用性的方法，通过识别和验证染料，除了蓝色-1 用于Con-Ex研究。拟议中的研究将解决一个与饮食影响有关的重要问题 并将为更复杂的苍蝇饮食消费分析奠定基础。

Project Summary/Abstract: Over the past 100+ years, studies in Drosophila melanogaster (Drosophila or flies) have contributed enormously to our understanding of the genetic basis for sex-determination, development, behavior, aging, disease and many other normal as well as pathophysiological processes. More recently, the fly model has also been used to explore the contribution of environmental factors in health and disease. Key among the environmental factors being investigated is diet. Altering the diet of flies has profound effects on their physiology, progression of disease markers and aging. For example, dietary restriction in flies (via reduced concentrations of nutrients) extends lifespan as found in other species. Changes in the fly diet also greatly impact egg-laying (an indicator of resource utilization) and can lead to the development of a type II diabetes-like state. Furthermore, our preliminary studies indicate that diet has a pronounced effect on ethanol sedation behavior in flies. Given the effects of diet in flies, the ongoing global obesity epidemic and the increasing incidence of obesity-related diseases, studies in flies hold tremendous promise for continuing to uncover key mechanisms underlying diet-related phenomena that could ultimately translate into improved prevention and treatment of a multitude of diet-related diseases in humans. We have consequently begun developing dye-based methods (Con-Ex) for measuring food consumption in flies. The overarching goals of the studies in this application are to (i) use our previously established dye-based Con-Ex feeding method with the dye Blue-1 as a food tracer to assess intake of diets that alter longevity—and importantly do so across the lifespans of flies and (ii) extend the utility of the method by identifying and validating dyes in addition to Blue-1 for use in Con-Ex studies. The proposed studies will address an important question related to the effects of diet on longevity and will lay the foundation for more sophisticated dietary consumption analyses in flies.