P.090 Evaluation of Mutant Alleles of Engrailed and Invected in Drosophila Melanogaster Models of Parkinson Disease

Abstract

Background: Parkinson Disease (PD) is a neurodegenerative disorder, resulting in a gradual decline in voluntary movement, where lifespan remains stable. Drosophila melanogaster offer comparable gene sequences to those targeted in PD; among them are two transcription factors, engrailed (en) and invected (inv). Methods: Wild-type homozygous allele Oregon-R(en⁺, inv⁺) was compared to heterozygous mutants of en¹, en⁴, en⁷, en⁵⁴, en⁵⁸, inv^W, inv³⁰, and Df (2R) en^Einv^E. Nine climbing and aging studies were executed from crosses with w¹¹¹⁸(en⁺, inv⁺) as the maternal genotype. Results: Independent-samples t-tests were conducted to compare the percent survival (in days). No significant differences were observed between the experimental groups and the control group. A mixed Analysis of Variance was conducted to compare climbing behaviour over time (in weeks) for all nine groups. Both main effects (group, time), and the interaction (group x time) were significant. Post hoc Fisher’s Least Significant Difference tests revealed a significant difference between the control group and en¹, en⁴, en⁵⁴, inv^W, and Df (2R) en^Einv^E groups. Conclusions: These results support the hypothesis that mutations of en, inv, or both will result in a PD phenotype and consequent decreased motor function of D. melanogaster PD models, with or without a significant decrease in lifespan.