"Small organism, big discoveries"--a review and recent neurodegeneration-related studies that include fly models

Debattisti V, Scorrano L. D. melanogaster, mitochondria and neurodegeneration: small model organism, big discoveries. Mol Cell Neurosci. 2013 Jul;55:77-86. PMID: 22940086.

Vashishtha M, Ng CW, Yildirim F, Gipson TA, Kratter IH, Bodai L, Song W, Lau A, Labadorf A, Vogel-Ciernia A, Troncosco J, Ross CA, Bates GP, Krainc D, Sadri-Vakili G, Finkbeiner S, Marsh JL, Housman DE, Fraenkel E, Thompson LM. Targeting H3K4 trimethylation in Huntington disease. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A. 2013 Aug 6;110(32):E3027-36. PMID: 23872847; PMCID: PMC3740882.

O'Rourke JG, Gareau JR, Ochaba J, Song W, Raskó T, Reverter D, Lee J, Monteys AM, Pallos J, Mee L, Vashishtha M, Apostol BL, Nicholson TP, Illes K, Zhu YZ, Dasso M, Bates GP, Difiglia M, Davidson B, Wanker EE, Marsh JL, Lima CD, Steffan JS, Thompson LM. SUMO-2 and PIAS1 Modulate Insoluble Mutant Huntingtin Protein Accumulation. Cell Rep. 2013 Jul 25;4(2):362-75. PMID: 23871671.

Beharry C, Alaniz ME, Alonso AD. Expression of Alzheimer-Like Pathological Human Tau Induces a Behavioral Motor and Olfactory Learning Deficit in Drosophila Melanogaster. J Alzheimers Dis. PMID: 23948901.

Mason RP, Casu M, Butler N, Breda C, Campesan S, Clapp J, Green EW, Dhulkhed D, Kyriacou CP, Giorgini F. Glutathione peroxidase activity is neuroprotective in models of Huntington's disease. Nat Genet. 2013 Aug 25. PMID: 23974869.

Study uses fly model of Alzheimer's disease

Park SH, Lee S, Hong YK, Hwang S, Lee JH, Bang SM, Kim YK, Koo BS, Lee IS, Cho KS. Suppressive effects of SuHeXiang Wan on amyloid-β42-induced extracellular signal-regulated kinase hyperactivation and glial cell proliferation in a transgenic Drosophila model of Alzheimer's disease. Biol Pharm Bull. 2013;36(3):390-8. PMID: 23238278.

Relevant review--fly models & tauopathies

Cowan CM, Mudher A. Are tau aggregates toxic or protective in tauopathies? Front Neurol. 2013;4:114. PMID: 23964266; PMCID: PMC3741634.

Relevant technique: Injecting drugs into adult Drosophila

Howlett IC, Tanouye MA. Seizure-Sensitivity in Drosophila Is Ameliorated by Dorsal Vessel Injection of the Antiepileptic Drug Valproate. J Neurogenet. 2013 PMID: 23941042.

Glaucoma, the unfolded protein response, and the fly--relevant review

Anholt RR, Carbone MA. A molecular mechanism for glaucoma: endoplasmic reticulum stress and the unfolded protein response. Trends Mol Med. 2013 Jul 19. PMID: 23876925.

Includes discussion of a fly model--transgenic expression of myocilin.

Fly disease model used in Huntingtons disease study

Arribat Y, Bonneaud N, Talmat-Amar Y, Layalle S, Parmentier ML, Maschat F. A Huntingtin Peptide Inhibits PolyQ-Huntingtin Associated Defects. PLoS One. 2013 PMID:
23861941; PMCID: PMC3701666.

New fly model--pythiosis

Zanette RA, Santurio JM, Loreto ES, Alves SH, Kontoyiannis DP. Toll-deficient Drosophila is susceptible to Pythium insidiosum infection. Microbiol Immunol. 2013 Jul 19. PMID: 23865688.

From the abstract: "There is a paucity of animal models of pythiosis, a life-threatening disease of humans and animals that has poorly understood immunopathogenesis. We developed a pythiosis model ..."