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Relationships between the Circadian System and Alzheimer’s Disease-Like Symptoms in Drosophila

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Title Relationships between the Circadian System and Alzheimer’s Disease-Like Symptoms in Drosophila
Names Long, Dani M. (creator)
Blake, Matthew R. (creator)
Dutta, Sudeshna (creator)
Kotwica-Rolinska, Joanna (creator)
Giebultowicz, Jadwiga M. (creator)
et al. (creator)
Date Issued 2014-08-29 (iso8601)
Note This is the publisher’s final pdf. The published article is copyrighted by the author(s) and published by the Public Library of Science. The published article can be found at: http://www.plosone.org/.
Abstract Circadian clocks coordinate physiological, neurological, and behavioral functions into circa 24 hour rhythms, and the
molecular mechanisms underlying circadian clock oscillations are conserved from Drosophila to humans. Clock oscillations
and clock-controlled rhythms are known to dampen during aging; additionally, genetic or environmental clock disruption
leads to accelerated aging and increased susceptibility to age-related pathologies. Neurodegenerative diseases, such as
Alzheimer’s disease (AD), are associated with a decay of circadian rhythms, but it is not clear whether circadian disruption
accelerates neuronal and motor decline associated with these diseases. To address this question, we utilized transgenic
Drosophila expressing various Amyloid-β (Aβ) peptides, which are prone to form aggregates characteristic of AD pathology
in humans. We compared development of AD-like symptoms in adult flies expressing Aβ peptides in the wild type
background and in flies with clocks disrupted via a null mutation in the clock gene period (per[superscript 01]). No significant differences were observed in longevity, climbing ability and brain neurodegeneration levels between control and clock-deficient flies, suggesting that loss of clock function does not exacerbate pathogenicity caused by human-derived Aβ peptides in flies.
However, AD-like pathologies affected the circadian system in aging flies. We report that rest/activity rhythms were
impaired in an age-dependent manner. Flies expressing the highly pathogenic arctic Aβ peptide showed a dramatic
degradation of these rhythms in tune with their reduced longevity and impaired climbing ability. At the same time, the
central pacemaker remained intact in these flies providing evidence that expression of Aβ peptides causes rhythm
degradation downstream from the central clock mechanism.
Genre Article
Access Condition http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/us/
Identifier Long DM, Blake MR, Dutta S, Holbrook SD, Kotwica-Rolinska J, et al. (2014). Relationships between the Circadian System and Alzheimer’s Disease-Like Symptoms in Drosophila. PLoS ONE 9(8): e106068. doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0106068

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