Dietary phosphate modifies lifespan in Drosophila

Phosphate is required for many important cellular processes and having too little phosphate (hypophosphatemia) or too much (hyperphosphatemia) can cause disease and reduce lifespan in humans. Drosophila melanogaster has been a powerful tool to discover evolutionarily well-conserved nutrient-sensing pathways that are important for the lifespan extension. We have established Drosophila as a model system for studying the effects of dietary phosphate during development and adult life. When absorption of phosphate is blocked by sevelamer or cellular uptake is inhibited by phosphonoformic acid (PFA), larval development is delayed in a phosphate-dependent fashion. Conversely, restriction of phosphate absorption with sevelamer or reduced cellular uptake after treatment with PFA is able to extend the adult lifespan of otherwise normal flies. Gaining an understanding of the specific pathways and mediators that regulate cellular and organismic phosphate levels might ultimately lead to the development of improved dietary and therapeutic approaches to the treatment of human disorders of hypo- and hyperphosphatemia.