Fly model of Alexander disease used in screen of FDA-approved drugs

Wang L, Hagemann TL, Messing A, Feany MB. An In Vivo Pharmacological Screen Identifies Cholinergic Signaling as a Therapeutic Target in Glial-Based Nervous System Disease. J Neurosci. 2016 Feb 3;36(5):1445-55. PMID: 26843629; PubMed PMC4737762.

From the abstract: "... Here we use a simple genetic model of Alexander disease, a progressive and severe human degenerative nervous system disease ... to perform an in vivo screen of 1987 compounds, including many FDA-approved drugs and natural products. We identify four compounds capable of dose-dependent inhibition of nervous system toxicity. Focusing on one of these hits, glycopyrrolate, we confirm the role for muscarinic cholinergic signaling in pathogenesis using additional pharmacologic reagents and genetic approaches. ... We have therefore identified glial muscarinic signaling as a potential therapeutic target in Alexander disease, and possibly in other gliopathic disorders as well.

From the significance statement: "Despite the urgent need for better treatments for neurological diseases, drug development for these devastating disorders has been challenging. The effectiveness of traditional large-scale in vitro screens may be limited by the lack of the appropriate molecular, cellular, and structural environment. Using a simple Drosophila model of Alexander disease, we performed a moderate throughput chemical screen of FDA-approved drugs and natural compounds... Our work demonstrates that small animal models are valuable screening tools for therapeutic compound identification in complex human diseases and that existing drugs can be a valuable resource for drug discovery given their known pharmacological and safety profiles."