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Drosophila , a Novel Animal Model for Investigating Mechanisms behind Sex‐related Difference in Kidney Stone Formation
Author(s) -
Kim Man Su,
Cho Youngju,
Kim Minkyong
Publication year - 2020
Publication title -
the faseb journal
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.709
H-Index - 277
eISSN - 1530-6860
pISSN - 0892-6638
DOI - 10.1096/fasebj.2020.34.s1.03762
Subject(s) - drosophila (subgenus) , kidney stones , drosophila melanogaster , biology , population , ureter , genetic model , kidney , danio , bioinformatics , gene , medicine , evolutionary biology , physiology , genetics , urology , zebrafish , environmental health
Kidney stones, a well‐known example of diseases that show a sex‐related difference in prevalence, are estimated to affect approximately 10 % of the population. Mechanisms behind male preponderance of the stone formation remain poorly understood mainly due to the lack of effective animal models. Here we aim to develop a Drosophila nephrolithiasis model with genetic manipulations. Drosophila ’s renal system is comprised of two tubules (named Malpighian tubules) that coalesce into a common ureter. These are the equivalent of the mammalian renal system tubule and ureter since many ionic transporters are conserved in the tubules between Drosophila and humans, and fly’s ureter contains highly expressed genes unique to muscular cell types, even demonstrating ureteral peristaltic activity. Interestingly, we found genetically engineered male flies produce much larger amount of stone‐like materials than that of the female counterpart, strongly suggesting that the fly stone models have the potential to serve as a translational platform in which future studies on renal stone disorders could be performed. Using this model we plan to identify signaling pathways and genes that are involved in a sex‐related difference in stone formation. We hope this research will open a gateway to developing novel treatments and preventive strategies for patients suffering from nephrolithiasis with an emphasis on personalized medicine. Support or Funding Information This work was supported by Basic Science Research Program through the National Research Foundation of Korea (NRF) funded by Ministry of Science and ICT (NRF‐2018R1A2A3074889)