Drosophila melanogaster a Versatile Model of Parkinson's Disease

Abstract

Parkinson's Disease (PD) is one of the most prevalent, recurrent and life-threatening neurodegenerative diseases. However, the precise mechanism underlying this disease is not yet clearly understood. For understanding the pathogenesis of PD, it is essential to identify the symptoms along with the novel biological markers and to develop strategies that could lead towards the development of effective therapy. PD is associated with Lewy bodies (LBs) formation and the loss of dopaminergic neurons in the substantia nigra pars compacta of mid brain region. For the improvement in treatment strategies, as well as understanding the pathophysiology of the PD in a number of animal models have been introduced that can recapitulate the pathophysiology, motor and nonmotor symptoms of PD. In contrast to mammalian models like rodents, mice and monkey, Drosophila is easy to handle as well as its maintenance cost is low. Due to the anatomical differences in the brain and other major organs of human and fly, the issues of standardizing the methods or experiments to analyze behavioral aspects (walking, writhing, eating and sleeping) are difficult in flies. The present review highlights the studies carried out for PD since 2000, using Drosophila melanogaster.

Keywords: Drosophila melanogaster; Parkinson's disease; brain.; lewy bodies; neurodegenerative disease; neurons.