Major
Psychology
Anticipated Graduation Year
Fall 2020
Access Type
Restricted Access
Abstract
Early nutritional environment can impact lifelong metabolic health. To address the mechanism, Drosophila melanogaster offers discrete developmental stages coupled with a conserved feeding-related neural circuit. Our research shows the instar 1 (I1) larval stage is critical for metabolic programming. Restricting high fructose corn syrup (HFCS) exposure to I1 creates obese adult flies with: increased weight, increased NPF - the mammalian orexigenic NPY homolog - expression, and decreased homeostatic inhibitory tone on NPF+ neurons due to decreased domeless activity. This contrasts the lean phenotype resulting from HFCS exposure throughout development. Results underscore the importance of early dietary experience in establishing metabolic circuits.
Faculty Mentors & Instructors
Dr. Jennifer Beshel, Assistant Professor, Department of Biology
Creative Commons License
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-No Derivative Works 3.0 License.
Establishing a critical period for metabolic set point determination in Drosophila melanogaster
Early nutritional environment can impact lifelong metabolic health. To address the mechanism, Drosophila melanogaster offers discrete developmental stages coupled with a conserved feeding-related neural circuit. Our research shows the instar 1 (I1) larval stage is critical for metabolic programming. Restricting high fructose corn syrup (HFCS) exposure to I1 creates obese adult flies with: increased weight, increased NPF - the mammalian orexigenic NPY homolog - expression, and decreased homeostatic inhibitory tone on NPF+ neurons due to decreased domeless activity. This contrasts the lean phenotype resulting from HFCS exposure throughout development. Results underscore the importance of early dietary experience in establishing metabolic circuits.