Hsp70 affects memory formation and behaviorally relevant gene expression in Drosophila melanogaster.

Heat shock proteins, in particular Hsp70, play a central role in proteostasis in eukaryotic cells. Due to its chaperone properties, Hsp70 is involved in various processes after stress and under normal physiological conditions. In contrast to mammals and many Diptera species, inducible members of the Hsp70 family in Drosophila are constitutively synthesized at a low level and undergo dramatic induction after temperature elevation or other forms of stress.

[Heat shock during the development of brain structures of Drosophila: the memory development in the l(1)ts403 mutant of Drosophila melanogaster].

The structures and functions of many genes are homologous in Drosophila and humans. Therefore, studying pathological processes in Drosophila, in particular neurogenerative processes accompanied by progressive memory loss, helps to understand the ethiology of corresponding human disorders and to develop therapeutic strategies. It is believed that the development of neurogenerative diseases might result from alterations in the functioning of the heat shock/chaperone machinery.

The ability of Drosophila mutants with defects in the central complex and mushroom bodies to learn and form memories.

One of the most important questions in the genetics of behavior is that of studies of the mechanisms of learning and memory. A convenient system for this is provided by Drosophila melanogaster, in which a whole series of mutations affecting the formation of different types of memory and learning have been obtained. The brain formations involved in these processes have been studied in parallel.

[Learning ability and memory formation in the Drosophila mutants with defective central complex and mushroom bodies].

Drosophila proved to be a very convenient model for genetic dissection of learning and memory in a number of experimental paradigms. A battery of mutations affecting either different subdomains of the central complex (CC) or of the mushroom bodies (MBs) enable the elucidation of the role of these central brain structures in different forms of learning and memory formation. We tested the CC mutants cexKS181 and ccbKS127 and MBs mutants mud1, mbm1 and cxbN71 for their ability for learning and memory formation in the conditioned courtship suppression paradigm.