Fruit flies may be small, but they can unlock many genetic secrets for humans. In the current issue of the journal Development, Michigan State University researchers mapped the signaling processes used by insulin in fruit flies.
Insulin in fruit flies
The significance of the discovery of the tiny Drosophila melanogaster, which has been called “Tiny people with wings, genetically speaking,” sheds light on how these processes may be altered by diabetes in humans. Insulin signaling is an important process for these creatures; past studies have proven that the natural hormone insulin controls the growth and development of the fly.
Fruit flies raised on a high-sugar diet consisting solely of bananas can actually develop a diabetic-like state. Similar to metabolic dysfunction in humans, said David Arnosti, the study’s senior author. As an extension of these past findings, Yiliang Wei, a graduate student in Arnosti’s lab and study co-author, focused on the insulin receptor protein, which binds to insulin and regulates its effects.
Insulin receptor protein
Before the researchers mapped its controlling circuits, little was known about how levels of this protein were regulated. One surprising finding was the large number of genetic switches controlling the expression of the receptor. This had been previously assumed to be a rather simple regulation. Evolutionary selection significantly impacted the structure and function of this protein circuitry.
Future
The researchers predict that the human gene will be similarly regulated. This could open a new chapter in diabetes research. Especially to find ways to modulate insulin signaling through insulin receptor protein control. The tiny fruit fly has once again proven itself as an effective model organism and given the team solid ground on which to move forward.
Reference
- “Diabetic Fruit Flies May Unlock Secrets in Humans.” n.d. EurekAlert!. https://www.eurekalert.org/news-releases/477664 Press release: Diabetic fruit flies may unlock secrets in humans
- Wei, Yiliang, Rewatee H. Gokhale, Anne Sonnenschein, Kelly Mone’t Montgomery, Andrew Ingersoll, and David N. Arnosti. 2016. “Complex Cis-Regulatory Landscape of the Insulin Receptor Gene Underlies the Broad Expression of a Central Signaling Regulator.” Development (Cambridge, England) 143 (19): 3591–3603. https://doi.org/10.1242/dev.138073