Hyperoxia-induced neurodegeneration as a tool to identify neuroprotective genes in Drosophila melanogaster.

Oxidative stress has been reported to be a common underlying mechanism in the pathogenesis of many neurodegenerative disorders such as Alzheimer, Huntington, Creutzfeld-Jakob, and Parkinson disease. Despite the increasing number of articles showing a correlation between oxidative damage and neurodegeneration little is known about the genetic elements that confer protection against the deleterious effects of an oxidative imbalance in neurons. We show that oxygen-induced damage is a direct cause of brain degeneration in Drosophila and establish an experimental setup measuring dopaminergic neuron survival to model oxidative stress-induced neurodegeneration in flies.

The Drosophila carbonyl reductase sniffer prevents oxidative stress-induced neurodegeneration.

A growing body of evidence suggests that oxidative stress is a common underlying mechanism in the pathogenesis of neurodegenerative disorders such as Alzheimer's, Huntington's, Creutzfeld-Jakob and Parkinson's diseases. Despite the increasing number of reports finding a causal relation between oxidative stress and neurodegeneration, little is known about the genetic elements that confer protection against the deleterious effects of oxidation in neurons. We have isolated and characterized the Drosophila melanogaster gene sniffer, whose function is essential for preventing age-related neurodegeneration.