Drosophila
- Loss of the Drosophila branched-chain α-ketoacid dehydrogenase complex results in neuronal dysfunction
Summary: Loss of BCKDH activity in Drosophila recapitulates the neurological symptoms of patients with maple syrup urine disease. Metformin administration was found to alleviate developmental defects and aberrant behavior in the BCKDH mutant.
- A Drosophila model of oral peptide therapeutics for adult intestinal stem cell tumors
Summary: We demonstrate that, when fed to flies, TONDU peptide suppresses Yki-driven intestinal stem cell (ISC) tumors, and identify integrins as essential components of ISC tumorigenesis.
- Temporal patterning in neural progenitors: from Drosophila development to childhood cancers
Summary: Temporal patterning is the mechanism by which neural progenitors change their competence and proliferative properties during development. Recent data suggest that co-opted temporal patterning could govern tumor growth in neural cancers with developmental origins.
- A Drosophila model to study retinitis pigmentosa pathology associated with mutations in the core splicing factor Prp8
Summary: A Drosophila melanogaster disease model of retinitis pigmentosa type 13 to study the mechanisms underlying the loss of tissue homeostasis and degeneration caused by mutations in the core component of the spliceosome Prp8.
- Zika virus non-structural protein NS4A restricts eye growth in Drosophila through regulation of JAK/STAT signaling
Summary: Our study provides evidence that Zika virus infection in Drosophila results in restricted growth of the developing eye and wing through regulation of JAK/STAT and Notch signaling, respectively.
- Anti-tumour effects of antimicrobial peptides, components of the innate immune system, against haematopoietic tumours in Drosophila mxc mutants
Summary: Antimicrobial peptides can interact with tumour cells generated in a haematopoietic tissue in Drosophila mxc mutants and have a tumour-suppressive effect on their growth.
- Enhancer of Polycomb and the Tip60 complex repress hematological tumor initiation by negatively regulating JAK/STAT pathway activity
Editor's choice: Using Drosophila as a low-complexity model for human myeloproliferative neoplasms, the authors identified a conserved mechanism by which the Tip60 lysine acetyltransferase acts as a tumor suppressor by repressing JAK protein expression in a histone-independent manner.
- Intellectual disability and autism spectrum disorders ‘on the fly’: insights from Drosophila
Summary: This Review summarizes some of the exciting work that has used Drosophila as a model for the ever-expanding field of intellectual disability and autism spectrum disorders. It highlights disease-relevant assays, emerging themes and future challenges.
- One hundred years of Drosophila cancer research: no longer in solitude
Summary: This Special Article summarises the history of Drosophila as a model to understand the cancer problem, from the initial work carried out by Mary Stark 100 years ago to today.
- Effect of dietary additives on intestinal permeability in both Drosophila and a human cell co-culture
Summary: Sugar and other food additives can inhibit gut barrier function in both human cell co-cultures and Drosophila melanogaster.