Using Drosophila to discover mechanisms underlying type 2 diabetes
Mechanisms of glucose homeostasis are remarkably well conserved between the fruit fly Drosophila melanogaster and mammals. From the initial characterization of insulin signaling in the fly came the identification of downstream metabolic pathways for nutrient storage and utilization. Defects in these...
| Main Authors: | , |
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
| Published: |
The Company of Biologists
2016-04-01
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| Series: | Disease Models & Mechanisms |
| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: | http://dmm.biologists.org/content/9/4/365 |
| _version_ | 1818132470973857792 |
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| author | Ronald W. Alfa Seung K. Kim |
| author_facet | Ronald W. Alfa Seung K. Kim |
| author_sort | Ronald W. Alfa |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | Mechanisms of glucose homeostasis are remarkably well conserved between the fruit fly Drosophila melanogaster and mammals. From the initial characterization of insulin signaling in the fly came the identification of downstream metabolic pathways for nutrient storage and utilization. Defects in these pathways lead to phenotypes that are analogous to diabetic states in mammals. These discoveries have stimulated interest in leveraging the fly to better understand the genetics of type 2 diabetes mellitus in humans. Type 2 diabetes results from insulin insufficiency in the context of ongoing insulin resistance. Although genetic susceptibility is thought to govern the propensity of individuals to develop type 2 diabetes mellitus under appropriate environmental conditions, many of the human genes associated with the disease in genome-wide association studies have not been functionally studied. Recent advances in the phenotyping of metabolic defects have positioned Drosophila as an excellent model for the functional characterization of large numbers of genes associated with type 2 diabetes mellitus. Here, we examine results from studies modeling metabolic disease in the fruit fly and compare findings to proposed mechanisms for diabetic phenotypes in mammals. We provide a systematic framework for assessing the contribution of gene candidates to insulin-secretion or insulin-resistance pathways relevant to diabetes pathogenesis. |
| first_indexed | 2024-12-11T08:37:21Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-089734a35ac2483aa6093e4c1e6abaa2 |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 1754-8403 1754-8411 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-12-11T08:37:21Z |
| publishDate | 2016-04-01 |
| publisher | The Company of Biologists |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Disease Models & Mechanisms |
| spelling | doaj.art-089734a35ac2483aa6093e4c1e6abaa22022-12-22T01:14:19ZengThe Company of BiologistsDisease Models & Mechanisms1754-84031754-84112016-04-019436537610.1242/dmm.023887023887Using Drosophila to discover mechanisms underlying type 2 diabetesRonald W. Alfa0Seung K. Kim1 Department of Developmental Biology, Stanford University School of Medicine, Stanford, CA 94305, USA Department of Developmental Biology, Stanford University School of Medicine, Stanford, CA 94305, USA Mechanisms of glucose homeostasis are remarkably well conserved between the fruit fly Drosophila melanogaster and mammals. From the initial characterization of insulin signaling in the fly came the identification of downstream metabolic pathways for nutrient storage and utilization. Defects in these pathways lead to phenotypes that are analogous to diabetic states in mammals. These discoveries have stimulated interest in leveraging the fly to better understand the genetics of type 2 diabetes mellitus in humans. Type 2 diabetes results from insulin insufficiency in the context of ongoing insulin resistance. Although genetic susceptibility is thought to govern the propensity of individuals to develop type 2 diabetes mellitus under appropriate environmental conditions, many of the human genes associated with the disease in genome-wide association studies have not been functionally studied. Recent advances in the phenotyping of metabolic defects have positioned Drosophila as an excellent model for the functional characterization of large numbers of genes associated with type 2 diabetes mellitus. Here, we examine results from studies modeling metabolic disease in the fruit fly and compare findings to proposed mechanisms for diabetic phenotypes in mammals. We provide a systematic framework for assessing the contribution of gene candidates to insulin-secretion or insulin-resistance pathways relevant to diabetes pathogenesis.http://dmm.biologists.org/content/9/4/365DiabetesDrosophilaInsulin resistanceInsulin-like peptides |
| spellingShingle | Ronald W. Alfa Seung K. Kim Using Drosophila to discover mechanisms underlying type 2 diabetes Disease Models & Mechanisms Diabetes Drosophila Insulin resistance Insulin-like peptides |
| title | Using Drosophila to discover mechanisms underlying type 2 diabetes |
| title_full | Using Drosophila to discover mechanisms underlying type 2 diabetes |
| title_fullStr | Using Drosophila to discover mechanisms underlying type 2 diabetes |
| title_full_unstemmed | Using Drosophila to discover mechanisms underlying type 2 diabetes |
| title_short | Using Drosophila to discover mechanisms underlying type 2 diabetes |
| title_sort | using drosophila to discover mechanisms underlying type 2 diabetes |
| topic | Diabetes Drosophila Insulin resistance Insulin-like peptides |
| url | http://dmm.biologists.org/content/9/4/365 |
| work_keys_str_mv | AT ronaldwalfa usingdrosophilatodiscovermechanismsunderlyingtype2diabetes AT seungkkim usingdrosophilatodiscovermechanismsunderlyingtype2diabetes |