Neurodegenerative diseases (NDDs) are a group of disorders which are characterized by progressive neuronal loss in a specific area of the nervous system; symptoms, onset and outcome depend on the damaged area of the brain. Although the major part of NDDs has a sporadic causality, during the last two decades many genes have been identified as causative, thus giving the opportunity to develop manifold animal models, allowing to recognize many cellular pathways and molecular interactors involved in the neurodegenerative phenotype.
The invertebrate Drosophila melanogaster is an excellent in vivo model to study several NDDs, such as Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis, Huntington's Disease, Alzheimer's Disease and Parkinson’s Disease. Transgenic flies faithfully reproduce the symptomatology and are very useful to assess potential therapeutic compounds, to identify putative genetic disease modifiers and, moreover, may be employed in different experimental assays to follow the disease progression and verify the efficacy of a treatment.
Despite research efforts, no cure is available for NDDs and new therapeutic approaches are needed. To progress in this field, it is essential to clarify the contributions of the key genes and proteins in NDDs. To date, most NDD research has focused on the role of neuronal cell, but it is becoming clear that other cellular types such as astrocytes, microglia and other cell types are involved in NDD pathogenesis. It is therefore important to recognize new pathways that may shed light on the molecular basis of NDDs, and help to identify new treatments and early biomarkers.
To reach this aim, Drosophila is an invaluable choice: it allows, among other advantages, to selectively express a human disease gene in a spatio-temporally regulated manner, thus permitting to examine the effect of a disease-associated mutation in a specific tissue or group of cells. For this and other reasons, such as the huge knowledge about Drosophila neuronal circuits and brain anatomy and the opportunity to realize large genetic screenings, we firmly believe that fruit fly research is very helpful to expand our knowledge about NDDs.
This Research Topic focuses on the contributions of Drosophila research to unveil new cellular players and new molecular pathways involved in the pathogenesis of NDDs.
We particularly welcome contributions introducing new pharmacological or genetic disease modifiers and novel potential biomarkers.
We encourage Original Research Manuscript submissions, but also Review, Mini-review, Perspective and Opinion articles.
Neurodegenerative diseases (NDDs) are a group of disorders which are characterized by progressive neuronal loss in a specific area of the nervous system; symptoms, onset and outcome depend on the damaged area of the brain. Although the major part of NDDs has a sporadic causality, during the last two decades many genes have been identified as causative, thus giving the opportunity to develop manifold animal models, allowing to recognize many cellular pathways and molecular interactors involved in the neurodegenerative phenotype.
The invertebrate Drosophila melanogaster is an excellent in vivo model to study several NDDs, such as Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis, Huntington's Disease, Alzheimer's Disease and Parkinson’s Disease. Transgenic flies faithfully reproduce the symptomatology and are very useful to assess potential therapeutic compounds, to identify putative genetic disease modifiers and, moreover, may be employed in different experimental assays to follow the disease progression and verify the efficacy of a treatment.
Despite research efforts, no cure is available for NDDs and new therapeutic approaches are needed. To progress in this field, it is essential to clarify the contributions of the key genes and proteins in NDDs. To date, most NDD research has focused on the role of neuronal cell, but it is becoming clear that other cellular types such as astrocytes, microglia and other cell types are involved in NDD pathogenesis. It is therefore important to recognize new pathways that may shed light on the molecular basis of NDDs, and help to identify new treatments and early biomarkers.
To reach this aim, Drosophila is an invaluable choice: it allows, among other advantages, to selectively express a human disease gene in a spatio-temporally regulated manner, thus permitting to examine the effect of a disease-associated mutation in a specific tissue or group of cells. For this and other reasons, such as the huge knowledge about Drosophila neuronal circuits and brain anatomy and the opportunity to realize large genetic screenings, we firmly believe that fruit fly research is very helpful to expand our knowledge about NDDs.
This Research Topic focuses on the contributions of Drosophila research to unveil new cellular players and new molecular pathways involved in the pathogenesis of NDDs.
We particularly welcome contributions introducing new pharmacological or genetic disease modifiers and novel potential biomarkers.
We encourage Original Research Manuscript submissions, but also Review, Mini-review, Perspective and Opinion articles.
