Aging results in an unusual expression of Drosophila heat shock proteins

Journal Article · Wed Jun 01 00:00:00 EDT 1988 · Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America; (USA)

DOI:https://doi.org/10.1073/pnas.85.11.4099· OSTI ID:5517756

Fleming, J E; Walton, J K; Dubitsky, R; Bensch, K G ^[1]

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1. Linus Pauling Institute of Science and Medicine, Palo Alto, CA (USA)

The authors used high-resolution two-dimensional polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis to evaluate the effect of aging on the heat shock response in Drosophila melanogaster. Although the aging process is not well understood at the molecular level, recent observations suggest that quantitative changes in gene expression occur as these fruit flies approach senescence. Such genetic alterations are in accord with our present data, which clearly show marked differences in the synthesis of heat shock proteins between young and old fruit flies. In 10-day-old flies, a heat shock of 20 min results in the expression of 14 new proteins as detectable by two-dimensional electrophoresis of ({sup 35}S)methionine-labeled polypeptides, whereas identical treatment of 45-day-old flies leads to the expression of at least 50 new or highly up-regulated proteins. In addition, there is also a concomitant increase in the rate of synthesis of a number of the normal proteins in the older animals. Microdensitometric determinations of the low molecular weight heat shock polypeptides on autoradiographs of five age groups revealed that their maximum expression occurs at 47 days for a population of flies with a mean life span of 33.7 days. Moreover, a heat shock effect similar to that observed in senescent flies occurs in young flies fed canavanine, an arginine analogue, before heat shock.

• OSTI ID: 5517756
• Journal Information: Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America; (USA), Vol. 85:11; ISSN 0027-8424
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

Related Subjects

59 BASIC BIOLOGICAL SCIENCES
DROSOPHILA
TEMPERATURE EFFECTS
POLYPEPTIDES
AUTORADIOGRAPHY
AGE DEPENDENCE
GENETICS
METHIONINE
SULFUR 35
TWO-DIMENSIONAL ELECTROPHORESIS
AMINO ACIDS
ANIMALS
ARTHROPODS
BETA DECAY RADIOISOTOPES
BETA-MINUS DECAY RADIOISOTOPES
BIOLOGY
CARBOXYLIC ACIDS
DAYS LIVING RADIOISOTOPES
DIPTERA
DRUGS
ELECTROPHORESIS
EVEN-ODD NUCLEI
FLIES
FRUIT FLIES
INSECTS
INVERTEBRATES
ISOTOPES
LIGHT NUCLEI
LIPOTROPIC FACTORS
NUCLEI
ORGANIC ACIDS
ORGANIC COMPOUNDS
ORGANIC SULFUR COMPOUNDS
PEPTIDES
PROTEINS
RADIOISOTOPES
SULFUR ISOTOPES
550201* - Biochemistry- Tracer Techniques