Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis Genes in <i>Drosophila melanogaster</i>

• Main Authors: Sophie Layalle, Laetitia They, Sarah Ourghani, Cédric Raoul, Laurent Soustelle
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Published: MDPI AG 2021-01-01
• Series: International Journal of Molecular Sciences
• Subjects: amyotrophic lateral sclerosis; Drosophila melanogaster; SOD1; C9orf72; FUS; TDP-43
• Online Access: https://www.mdpi.com/1422-0067/22/2/904
• ISSN: 1661-6596; 1422-0067

Amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) is a devastating adult-onset neurodegenerative disease characterized by the progressive degeneration of upper and lower motoneurons. Most ALS cases are sporadic but approximately 10% of ALS cases are due to inherited mutations in identified genes. ALS-causing mutations were identified in over 30 genes with <i>superoxide dismutase-1 </i>(<i>SOD1</i>), <i>chromosome 9 open reading frame 72 (C9orf72), fused in sarcoma </i>(<i>FUS</i>), and <i>TAR DNA-binding protein </i>(<i>TARDBP</i>,<i> </i>encoding TDP-43<i>)</i> being the most frequent. In the last few decades,<i> Drosophila melanogaster</i> emerged as a versatile model for studying neurodegenerative diseases, including ALS. In this review, we describe the different <i>Drosophila</i> ALS models that have been successfully used to decipher the cellular and molecular pathways associated with SOD1, C9orf72, FUS, and TDP-43. The study of the known fruit fly orthologs of these ALS-related genes yielded significant insights into cellular mechanisms and physiological functions. Moreover, genetic screening in tissue-specific gain-of-function mutants that mimic ALS-associated phenotypes identified disease-modifying genes. Here, we propose a comprehensive review on the <i>Drosophila</i> research focused on four ALS-linked genes that has revealed novel pathogenic mechanisms and identified potential therapeutic targets for future therapy.