Sleep disorders and locomotor symptoms in Drosophila melanogaster as a model of Parkinson's disease.

GUSTAVO EZEQUIEL PEREZ; SOLEDAD YAMILA BARRIENTOS EDUARDS; SEBASTIAN RISAU GUSMAN; D. LORENA FRANCO

Simposio; Frontiers in Bioscience 4 Symposium; 2023

Parkinson’s Disease (PD) is the 2nd most frequent neurodegenerativesyndrome after Alzheimer, strongly affects the motor capacity, quality, andlife expectancy of the patient and it’s prevalent among the elderly. The deathof dopaminergic neurons in the Substantia Nigra Compacta (DA-SNc) in the brainis considered to be the cause of the motor symptoms of this disease.Furthermore, it is becoming increasingly clear that PD patients develop aplethora of non-motor symptoms, such as sleep disorders. REM sleep behavior disorder(RBD) has regained interest as recent studies show that most patients diagnosedwith RBD will eventually develop parkinsonian syndromes. In this project, Istudy the behavioral effects of mutations associated with the development ofParkinson´s disease and REM Behavior Disorder in Drosophila melanogaster.I´m analyzing the appearance of defects in locomotor patterns, in the sleepstructure, and body movements during sleep, in young, adult, and aging flies tostudy the progression of these symptoms. I´m assessing the effects of theexpression of these mutations in the whole brain versus dopaminergic neurons,neurons that regulate the homeostatic sleep, and regions related to locomotioncontrol. The goal of this research is providing more insights of the affectedneural network in PD and RBD and better stablish an early indicator of PD. Itis hoped that this will lead into another new pre-clinical animal model, andwill allow the assessment of new treatments that look to ease the symptoms ofthis disease