Towards a Drosophila model of Hutchinson-Gilford progeria syndrome.

The laminopathy Hutchinson-Gilford progeria syndrome (HGPS) is caused by the mutant lamin A protein progerin and leads to premature aging of affected children. Despite numerous cell biological and biochemical insights into the basis for the cellular abnormalities seen in HGPS, the mechanism linking progerin to the organismal phenotype is not fully understood. To begin to address the mechanism behind HGPS using Drosophila melanogaster, we have ectopically expressed progerin and lamin A.