Affiliations: [a] Department of Biology, Drexel University, Philadelphia, PA, USA | [b] Department of Biology, Arcadia University, Glenside, PA, USA | [c] Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, Drexel University College of Medicine, Philadelphia, PA, USA | [d] Department of Neurobiology and Anatomy, Drexel University College of Medicine, Philadelphia, PA, USA
Correspondence:
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Correspondence to: Daniel R. Marenda, Department of Biology, Drexel University, 3141 Chestnut St., Philadelphia, PA 19104, USA. Tel.: +1 215 895 2526; Fax: +1 215 895 1273; E-mail: [email protected].
Abstract: A majority of the genes linked to human disease belong to evolutionarily conserved pathways found in simpler organisms, such as Caenorhabditis elegans and Drosophila melanogaster. The genes and pathways of these simple organisms can be genetically and pharmacologically manipulated to better understand the function of their orthologs in vivo, and how these genes are involved in the pathogenesis of different diseases. Often these manipulations can be performed much more rapidly in flies and worms than in mammals, and can generate high quality in vivo data that is translatable to mammalian systems. Other qualities also make these organisms particularly well suited to the study of human disease. For example, developing in vivo disease models can help illuminate the basic mechanisms underlying disease, as in vitro studies do not always provide the natural physiological complexity associated with many diseases. Invertebrate models are relatively inexpensive, easy to work with, have short lifespans, and often have very well characterized and stereotypical development and behavior. This is particularly true for the two invertebrate model organisms that this review will focus on: Caenorhabditis elegans and Drosophila melanogaster. In this review, we will first describe an overview of modeling Alzheimer's disease in flies and worms, and will then highlight some of the more recent advances that these “simple” animals have contributed to our understanding of Alzheimer's disease in recent years.
Keywords: Alzheimer's disease, C. elegans, Drosophila, model organisms, review
