View Program - 63rd Annual Drosophila Research Conference

Hormones orchestrate vital physiological pathways, such as metabolism, development, and reproduction. Beyond their influence on organismal homeostasis, hormones maintain integrity of stem cell niches and tissue integrity through molecular mechanisms. The presence of hormones is not restrictive to mammals and is evolutionarily conserved across species down to microorganisms. This conservation through evolution shows the importance in understanding how hormones interact with physiology and the negative implications of what happens to homeostasis post-hormonal disruption. To this end, we will be using Drosophila melanogaster to better understand how dysregulation of hormonal homeostasis impacts physiology. Drosophila possess hormonal regulation that shares many similarities with mammalian hormonal homeostasis. While mammals are more complex organisms, many of the vital hormones essential to physiology are conserved. For example, the mammalian peptide hormone, insulin, is present in Drosophila. In Drosophila, it is known as Drosophila Insulin-like Peptide (DILP) and there are eight forms. Similar to how mammals have various insulin types, these eight forms serve specific functions across the organism to regulate glucose needs and metabolism. Additionally, DILPs are heavily involved in other physiological processes, including other hormonal pathways that regulate development and reproduction. The major hormones that are intimately connected to DILP are ecdysone and juvenile hormone (JH); which function similarly to that of mammalian sex steroids and growth hormones, respectively. All three of these major hormones are not only involved in their own canonical pathways but also influence each other by being necessary for each other to complete their function. To fully understand how these hormones effect physiology once homeostasis is dysregulated, we will be examining the effects of hormonal perturbations on physiology. Perturbations will be completed using the Gal4-UAS system and will be visualized using microscopy methods. Preliminary results have shown consequences to physiology through malformation of wings and increased wing venation, decreased survival, temperature sensitivity, and apoptotic phenotypes in reproductive tissues. Further investigation into these consequences are currently being completed to understand the effects of perturbing major hormones (DILP, ecdysone, JH) and their effects on physiological homeostasis and hormonal crosstalk.

Consequences to Organismal Physiology upon Dysregulation of Hormonal Homeostasis using Drosophila melanogaster