AUTHOR=Bilska Bernadetta , Damulewicz Milena , Abaquita Terence Al L. , Pyza Elzbieta 

TITLE=Changes in heme oxygenase level during development affect the adult life of Drosophila melanogaster

JOURNAL=Frontiers in Cellular Neuroscience

VOLUME=17

YEAR=2023

URL=https://www.frontiersin.org/journals/cellular-neuroscience/articles/10.3389/fncel.2023.1239101

DOI=10.3389/fncel.2023.1239101

ISSN=1662-5102

ABSTRACT=<p>Heme oxygenase (HO) has been shown to control various cellular processes in both mammals and <italic>Drosophila melanogaster</italic>. Here, we investigated how changes in HO levels in neurons and glial cells during development affect adult flies, by using the TARGET <italic>Drosophila</italic> system to manipulate the expression of the <italic>ho</italic> gene. The obtained data showed differences in adult survival, maximum lifespan, climbing, locomotor activity, and sleep, which depended on the level of HO (after <italic>ho</italic> up-regulation or downregulation), the timing of expression (chronic or at specific developmental stages), cell types (neurons or glia), sex (males or females), and age of flies. In addition to <italic>ho,</italic> the effects of changing the mRNA level of the <italic>Drosophila</italic> CNC factor gene (NRF2 homolog in mammals and master regulator of HO), were also examined to compare with those observed after changing <italic>ho</italic> expression. We showed that HO levels in neurons and glia must be maintained at an appropriate physiological level during development to ensure the well-being of adults. We also found that the downregulation of <italic>ho</italic> in either neurons or glia in the brain is compensated by <italic>ho</italic> expressed in the retina.</p>