Cargando…

Assaying Locomotor, Learning, and Memory Deficits in Drosophila Models of Neurodegeneration

Advances in genetic methods have enabled the study of genes involved in human neurodegenerative diseases using Drosophila as a model system(1). Most of these diseases, including Alzheimer's, Parkinson's and Huntington's disease are characterized by age-dependent deterioration in learn...

Descripción completa

Detalles Bibliográficos
Autores principales: Ali, Yousuf O., Escala, Wilfredo, Ruan, Kai, Zhai, R. Grace
Formato: Online Artículo Texto
Lenguaje:English
Publicado: MyJove Corporation 2011
Materias:
Acceso en línea:https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3197301/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/21445036
http://dx.doi.org/10.3791/2504
_version_ 1782214296237768704
author Ali, Yousuf O.
Escala, Wilfredo
Ruan, Kai
Zhai, R. Grace
author_facet Ali, Yousuf O.
Escala, Wilfredo
Ruan, Kai
Zhai, R. Grace
author_sort Ali, Yousuf O.
collection PubMed
description Advances in genetic methods have enabled the study of genes involved in human neurodegenerative diseases using Drosophila as a model system(1). Most of these diseases, including Alzheimer's, Parkinson's and Huntington's disease are characterized by age-dependent deterioration in learning and memory functions and movement coordination(2). Here we use behavioral assays, including the negative geotaxis assay(3) and the aversive phototaxic suppression assay (APS assay)(4,5), to show that some of the behavior characteristics associated with human neurodegeneration can be recapitulated in flies. In the negative geotaxis assay, the natural tendency of flies to move against gravity when agitated is utilized to study genes or conditions that may hinder locomotor capacities. In the APS assay, the learning and memory functions are tested in positively-phototactic flies trained to associate light with aversive bitter taste and hence avoid this otherwise natural tendency to move toward light. Testing these trained flies 6 hours post-training is used to assess memory functions. Using these assays, the contribution of any genetic or environmental factors toward developing neurodegeneration can be easily studied in flies.
format Online
Article
Text
id pubmed-3197301
institution National Center for Biotechnology Information
language English
publishDate 2011
publisher MyJove Corporation
record_format MEDLINE/PubMed
spelling pubmed-31973012011-10-24 Assaying Locomotor, Learning, and Memory Deficits in Drosophila Models of Neurodegeneration Ali, Yousuf O. Escala, Wilfredo Ruan, Kai Zhai, R. Grace J Vis Exp Neuroscience Advances in genetic methods have enabled the study of genes involved in human neurodegenerative diseases using Drosophila as a model system(1). Most of these diseases, including Alzheimer's, Parkinson's and Huntington's disease are characterized by age-dependent deterioration in learning and memory functions and movement coordination(2). Here we use behavioral assays, including the negative geotaxis assay(3) and the aversive phototaxic suppression assay (APS assay)(4,5), to show that some of the behavior characteristics associated with human neurodegeneration can be recapitulated in flies. In the negative geotaxis assay, the natural tendency of flies to move against gravity when agitated is utilized to study genes or conditions that may hinder locomotor capacities. In the APS assay, the learning and memory functions are tested in positively-phototactic flies trained to associate light with aversive bitter taste and hence avoid this otherwise natural tendency to move toward light. Testing these trained flies 6 hours post-training is used to assess memory functions. Using these assays, the contribution of any genetic or environmental factors toward developing neurodegeneration can be easily studied in flies. MyJove Corporation 2011-03-11 /pmc/articles/PMC3197301/ /pubmed/21445036 http://dx.doi.org/10.3791/2504 Text en Copyright © 2011, Journal of Visualized Experiments http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/3.0/ This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs 3.0 Unported License. To view a copy of this license, visithttp://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/3.0/
spellingShingle Neuroscience
Ali, Yousuf O.
Escala, Wilfredo
Ruan, Kai
Zhai, R. Grace
Assaying Locomotor, Learning, and Memory Deficits in Drosophila Models of Neurodegeneration
title Assaying Locomotor, Learning, and Memory Deficits in Drosophila Models of Neurodegeneration
title_full Assaying Locomotor, Learning, and Memory Deficits in Drosophila Models of Neurodegeneration
title_fullStr Assaying Locomotor, Learning, and Memory Deficits in Drosophila Models of Neurodegeneration
title_full_unstemmed Assaying Locomotor, Learning, and Memory Deficits in Drosophila Models of Neurodegeneration
title_short Assaying Locomotor, Learning, and Memory Deficits in Drosophila Models of Neurodegeneration
title_sort assaying locomotor, learning, and memory deficits in drosophila models of neurodegeneration
topic Neuroscience
url https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3197301/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/21445036
http://dx.doi.org/10.3791/2504
work_keys_str_mv AT aliyousufo assayinglocomotorlearningandmemorydeficitsindrosophilamodelsofneurodegeneration
AT escalawilfredo assayinglocomotorlearningandmemorydeficitsindrosophilamodelsofneurodegeneration
AT ruankai assayinglocomotorlearningandmemorydeficitsindrosophilamodelsofneurodegeneration
AT zhairgrace assayinglocomotorlearningandmemorydeficitsindrosophilamodelsofneurodegeneration