Monday, July 10, 2017

Metal-related diseases studied using Drosophila

Calap-Quintana P, González-Fernández J, Sebastiá-Ortega N, Llorens JV, Moltó MD. Drosophila melanogaster Models of Metal-Related Human Diseases and Metal Toxicity. Int J Mol Sci. 2017 Jul 6;18(7). pii: E1456. PMID: 28684721.

From the abstract: "Iron, copper and zinc are transition metals essential for life ... Organisms have evolved to acquire metals from nutrition and to maintain adequate levels of each metal to avoid damaging effects associated with its deficiency, excess or misplacement. ... many orthologues of the human metal-related genes having been identified and characterized in Drosophila melanogaster. Drosophila has gained appreciation as a useful model for studying human diseases, including those caused by mutations in pathways controlling cellular metal homeostasis. ... This review recapitulates the metabolism of the principal transition metals, namely iron, zinc and copper, in Drosophila and the utility of this organism as an experimental model to explore the role of metal dyshomeostasis in different human diseases. Finally, a summary of the contribution of Drosophila as a model for testing metal toxicity is provided."

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