Title : Exploring the possible roles of TBK1 and its fly ortholog IK2 gene in nervous system function
Abstract:
Amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) is a progressive neurodegenerative disease that affects nerve cells in the brain and the spinal cord. Many genetic mutations have identified in ALS patients, including the mutations found in gene TBK1, yet it is still not well understood how these mutations contribute to the pathogenesis of ALS. In this study, we tried to use Drosophila lines that lowered the expression of IK2 gene, the fly version of gene TBK1, to investigate the phenotypic and molecular changes of the affected flies. We found that lowering IK2 gene expression severely impaired larval crawling ability and the specific lowering of IK2 gene expression in adult eyes caused a characteristic neurotoxic rough eye phenotype. Further analysis on flies expressing wildtype and mutant TBK1 proteins are ongoing. These studies paved the way for new insights of how such TBK1 mutations contribute to the pathogenesis of ALS.
