CG6115, a novel gene involved in neurodegeneration in Drosophila melanogaster, is needed in muscle during development

BERNABO G, REZÁVAL C, AVENDAÑO LA, FRANCO DL, WERBAJH S, CERIANI MF.

Huerta Grande, Cordoba

Congreso; XXVI Congreso Anual de la Sociedad Argentina de Investigación en Neurociencias; 2011

Sociedad Argentina de Neurociencias

To identify novel genes related to neurodegeneration a missexpression screen has been carried out in our laboratory. It consisted of examining locomotor behavior in young and aged flies. Flies that showed a progressive loss of rhythmic activity could reveal novel genes involved in neurodegenerative mechanisms. One of the mutants, 100B, shows a striking downregulation of CG6115 expression. CG6115 encodes a gene of unknown function. Homozygous mutants cannot progress beyond second instar larvae and have an abnormal feeding behavior. CG6115 relevance in different tissues was assayed and muscle related GAL4s were found to mimic homozygous mutant behavior in larvae. Interestingly, adult flies expressing the RNAi specific to CG6115 in pigment dispersing factor positive neurons, when screened in locomotor behavior, showed progressive arrythmicity and period lengthening. In addition, flies expressing CG6115 RNAi under the glass Multimer Reporter promoter show severe eye defects in approximately 23% of the individuals. A preliminary analysis of brain slices of young and aged flies showed that expression of the specific RNAi in the brain causes progressive vacuolization. Taken together we propose CG6115 could play a role in neurodegeneration.