34th Annual Student Research Conference
Cyp1 EXPRESSION IN NEURONS AND GLIA IS NECESSARY FOR NORMAL CRAWLING BEHAVIOR OF DROSOPHILA LARVAE
Carol A. Koob*, Mario Fong, Chang Li, Aspen Unerstall, and Evan Clark
Dr. Brett A. Berke, Faculty Mentor
The Cyclophilin D (CypD) protein localizes to mitochondria and is a therapeutic target used to stop neuronal death in several neurodegenerative conditions. Cyclophilin 1 (Cyp1) is the Drosophila version of CypD: it is highly identical (87%) and localizes to mitochondria. Mutations affecting Cyp1 also provide protection against oxidative stress in a fly model of Parkinson’s Disease. Here, we show that Cyp1 mutations alter larval crawling behavior. The crawling of Drosophila larvae is a stereotyped behavior consisting of linear movements interspersed with “searches”, where the larva pauses, swings its head, and changes crawling direction. Cyp1 mutations and pan-cellular expression of a Cyp1 RNAi both increase searching behavior. By expressing RNAi transgenes in distinct tissues, we found that the searching defect could be replicated by knocking down Cyp1 selectively in glia or neurons. This behavioral change is due to long-term manipulations and could indicate side effects of targeting CypD in human disease.
Keywords: Drosophila, Cyclophilin, Animal Behavior
Topic(s):Biology
Presentation Type: Asynchronous Virtual Poster
Session: 4-2
Location: https://flipgrid.com/7ba08930
Time: 0:00