Morphological abnormalities in Drosophila with overexpression of human APP gene

Dmitry Rodin, Olga Bolshakova, Galina Kislik, Svetlana Sarantseva

Molecular and Radiation Biophysics Department, National Research Centre “Kurchatov Institute”-B.P. Konstantinov Petersburg Nuclear Physics Institute, Gatchina, Russia.
Molecular and Radiation Biophysics Department, National Research Centre “Kurchatov Institute”-B.P. Konstantinov Petersburg Nuclear Physics Institute, Gatchina, Russia;.

DOI: 10.4236/ojas.2013.34A2006                

Abstract

Alzheimer’s disease (AD) is the leading and one of the most severe forms of dementia. Molecular mechanisms underlying AD pathogenesis despite much work on this subject still remain unclear. Cleavage of amyloid precursor protein (APP) to amyloid beta peptide (A-beta) and following formation of amyloid plaques are the key events of Alzheimer’s pathology. Thus changes in APP expression and metabolism can lead to pathology development. Here we show that overexpression of human APP in Drosophila neural cells manifests in different morphological abnormalities of Drosophila imago that can be observed immediately after fly eclosion. This observation can help to further understand APP molecular functions and its participation in different molecular pathways.

Keywords

Alzheimer’s Disease; Drosophila; Amyloid Precursor Protein; Morphological Abnormalities

Conflicts of Interest

The authors declare no conflicts of interest.

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