X-Message-Number: 26327
Date: Mon, 13 Jun 2005 05:46:16 -0700 (PDT)
From: Doug Skrecky <>
Subject: specific brain damage increases fly lifespan

["Fat" flies live longer.]

Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A. 2005 Feb 22;102(8):3105-10.
Epub 2005 Feb 11.
Longer lifespan, altered metabolism, and stress resistance in
Drosophila from ablation of cells making insulin-like ligands.
  The insulin/insulin-like growth factor-like signaling pathway,
present in all multicellular organisms, regulates diverse functions
including growth, development, fecundity, metabolic homeostasis,
and lifespan. In flies, ligands of the insulin/insulin-like growth
factor-like signaling pathway, the Drosophila insulin-like peptides,
regulate growth and hemolymph carbohydrate homeostasis during
development and are expressed in a stage- and tissue-specific manner.
Here, we show that ablation of Drosophila insulin-like
peptide-producing median neurosecretory cells in the brain leads to
increased fasting glucose levels in the hemolymph of adults similar
to that found in diabetic mammals. They also exhibit increased
storage of lipid and carbohydrate, reduced fecundity, and reduced
tolerance of heat and cold. However, the ablated flies show an
extension of median and maximal lifespan and increased resistance
to oxidative stress and starvation.

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