measuring-crop-motility-and-food-passaging-in-drosophila

Measuring Crop Motility and Food Passaging in <em>Drosophila</em>

Most animals use the gastrointestinal (GI) tract to digest food. The movement of the ingested food in the GI tract is essential for nutrient absorption. ...

Aging and age-related diseases occur in almost all organisms. Recently, it was discovered that the inhibition of target of rapamycin complex 1 (TORC1), a conserved complex that mediates nutrient status and cell metabolism, can extend an individual's lifespan and inhibit age-related diseases in many model organisms. However, the mechanism whereby TORC1 affects aging remains elusive. Here, we use a loss-of-function mutation in , a component of GATOR1 that mediates amino acid levels and inhibits TORC1 activity, to investigate the effect of increased TORC1 activity on the occurrence of age-related digestive dysfunction in . We found that the  mutation decreased  lifespan. Furthermore, the  mutant had a distended crop, with food accumulation at an early age. Interestingly, the inappropriate food distribution and digestion along with decreased crop contraction in  mutant can be rescued by decreasing TORC1 activity. In addition, -mutant flies exhibited age-related phenotypes in the midgut, including short gut length, a high rate of intestinal stem cell proliferation, and metabolic dysfunction, which could be rescued by inhibiting TORC1 activity. Our findings showed that the gastrointestinal tract aging process is accelerated in -mutant flies, owing to high TORC1 activity, which suggested that TORC1 promotes digestive tract senescence.

Junmeng Xi

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