Daily blue-light exposure shortens lifespan and causes brain neurodegeneration in Drosophila
Abstract Light is necessary for life, but prolonged exposure to artificial light is a matter of increasing health concern. Humans are exposed to increased amounts of light in the blue spectrum produced by light-emitting diodes (LEDs), which can interfere with normal sleep cycles. The LED technologie...
| Main Authors: | , , , , , , , , |
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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Nature Portfolio
2019-10-01
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| Series: | npj Aging and Mechanisms of Disease |
| Online Access: | https://doi.org/10.1038/s41514-019-0038-6 |
| _version_ | 1818346935201824768 |
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| author | Trevor R. Nash Eileen S. Chow Alexander D. Law Samuel D. Fu Elzbieta Fuszara Aleksandra Bilska Piotr Bebas Doris Kretzschmar Jadwiga M. Giebultowicz |
| author_facet | Trevor R. Nash Eileen S. Chow Alexander D. Law Samuel D. Fu Elzbieta Fuszara Aleksandra Bilska Piotr Bebas Doris Kretzschmar Jadwiga M. Giebultowicz |
| author_sort | Trevor R. Nash |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | Abstract Light is necessary for life, but prolonged exposure to artificial light is a matter of increasing health concern. Humans are exposed to increased amounts of light in the blue spectrum produced by light-emitting diodes (LEDs), which can interfere with normal sleep cycles. The LED technologies are relatively new; therefore, the long-term effects of exposure to blue light across the lifespan are not understood. We investigated the effects of light in the model organism, Drosophila melanogaster, and determined that flies maintained in daily cycles of 12-h blue LED and 12-h darkness had significantly reduced longevity compared with flies maintained in constant darkness or in white light with blue wavelengths blocked. Exposure of adult flies to 12 h of blue light per day accelerated aging phenotypes causing damage to retinal cells, brain neurodegeneration, and impaired locomotion. We report that brain damage and locomotor impairments do not depend on the degeneration in the retina, as these phenotypes were evident under blue light in flies with genetically ablated eyes. Blue light induces expression of stress-responsive genes in old flies but not in young, suggesting that cumulative light exposure acts as a stressor during aging. We also determined that several known blue-light-sensitive proteins are not acting in pathways mediating detrimental light effects. Our study reveals the unexpected effects of blue light on fly brain and establishes Drosophila as a model in which to investigate long-term effects of blue light at the cellular and organismal level. |
| first_indexed | 2024-12-13T17:26:10Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-b5a13df9da704333ac49a61936553663 |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 2056-3973 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-12-13T17:26:10Z |
| publishDate | 2019-10-01 |
| publisher | Nature Portfolio |
| record_format | Article |
| series | npj Aging and Mechanisms of Disease |
| spelling | doaj.art-b5a13df9da704333ac49a619365536632022-12-21T23:37:11ZengNature Portfolionpj Aging and Mechanisms of Disease2056-39732019-10-01511810.1038/s41514-019-0038-6Daily blue-light exposure shortens lifespan and causes brain neurodegeneration in DrosophilaTrevor R. Nash0Eileen S. Chow1Alexander D. Law2Samuel D. Fu3Elzbieta Fuszara4Aleksandra Bilska5Piotr Bebas6Doris Kretzschmar7Jadwiga M. Giebultowicz8Department of Integrative Biology, Oregon State UniversityDepartment of Integrative Biology, Oregon State UniversityOregon Institute of Occupational Health Sciences, Oregon Health and Science UniversityDepartment of Integrative Biology, Oregon State UniversityDepartment of Animal Physiology, Faculty of Biology, University of WarsawDepartment of Animal Physiology, Faculty of Biology, University of WarsawDepartment of Animal Physiology, Faculty of Biology, University of WarsawOregon Institute of Occupational Health Sciences, Oregon Health and Science UniversityDepartment of Integrative Biology, Oregon State UniversityAbstract Light is necessary for life, but prolonged exposure to artificial light is a matter of increasing health concern. Humans are exposed to increased amounts of light in the blue spectrum produced by light-emitting diodes (LEDs), which can interfere with normal sleep cycles. The LED technologies are relatively new; therefore, the long-term effects of exposure to blue light across the lifespan are not understood. We investigated the effects of light in the model organism, Drosophila melanogaster, and determined that flies maintained in daily cycles of 12-h blue LED and 12-h darkness had significantly reduced longevity compared with flies maintained in constant darkness or in white light with blue wavelengths blocked. Exposure of adult flies to 12 h of blue light per day accelerated aging phenotypes causing damage to retinal cells, brain neurodegeneration, and impaired locomotion. We report that brain damage and locomotor impairments do not depend on the degeneration in the retina, as these phenotypes were evident under blue light in flies with genetically ablated eyes. Blue light induces expression of stress-responsive genes in old flies but not in young, suggesting that cumulative light exposure acts as a stressor during aging. We also determined that several known blue-light-sensitive proteins are not acting in pathways mediating detrimental light effects. Our study reveals the unexpected effects of blue light on fly brain and establishes Drosophila as a model in which to investigate long-term effects of blue light at the cellular and organismal level.https://doi.org/10.1038/s41514-019-0038-6 |
| spellingShingle | Trevor R. Nash Eileen S. Chow Alexander D. Law Samuel D. Fu Elzbieta Fuszara Aleksandra Bilska Piotr Bebas Doris Kretzschmar Jadwiga M. Giebultowicz Daily blue-light exposure shortens lifespan and causes brain neurodegeneration in Drosophila npj Aging and Mechanisms of Disease |
| title | Daily blue-light exposure shortens lifespan and causes brain neurodegeneration in Drosophila |
| title_full | Daily blue-light exposure shortens lifespan and causes brain neurodegeneration in Drosophila |
| title_fullStr | Daily blue-light exposure shortens lifespan and causes brain neurodegeneration in Drosophila |
| title_full_unstemmed | Daily blue-light exposure shortens lifespan and causes brain neurodegeneration in Drosophila |
| title_short | Daily blue-light exposure shortens lifespan and causes brain neurodegeneration in Drosophila |
| title_sort | daily blue light exposure shortens lifespan and causes brain neurodegeneration in drosophila |
| url | https://doi.org/10.1038/s41514-019-0038-6 |
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