Title:Drosophila melanogaster a Versatile Model of Parkinson’s Disease
Volume: 20
Issue: 6
Author(s): Falaq Naz and Yasir H. Siddique*
Affiliation:
- Department of Zoology, Drosophila Transgenic Laboratory, Section of Genetics, Faculty of Life Sciences, Aligarh Muslim University, Aligarh-202002, Uttar Pradesh,India
Keywords:
Parkinson's disease, Drosophila melanogaster, lewy bodies, neurodegenerative disease, neurons, brain.
Abstract: Parkinson’s Disease (PD) is one of the most prevalent, recurrent and life-threatening neurodegenerative
diseases. However, the precise mechanism underlying this disease is not yet clearly
understood. For understanding the pathogenesis of PD, it is essential to identify the symptoms
along with the novel biological markers and to develop strategies that could lead towards the development
of effective therapy. PD is associated with Lewy bodies (LBs) formation and the loss of dopaminergic
neurons in the substantia nigra pars compacta of mid brain region. For the improvement
in treatment strategies, as well as understanding the pathophysiology of the PD in a number
of animal models have been introduced that can recapitulate the pathophysiology, motor and nonmotor
symptoms of PD. In contrast to mammalian models like rodents, mice and monkey, Drosophila
is easy to handle as well as its maintenance cost is low. Due to the anatomical differences
in the brain and other major organs of human and fly, the issues of standardizing the methods or experiments
to analyze behavioral aspects (walking, writhing, eating and sleeping) are difficult in
flies. The present review highlights the studies carried out for PD since 2000, using Drosophila melanogaster.
