Halving the selenophosphate synthetase gene dose confers hypersensitivity to oxidative stress in Drosophila melanogaster.
Several lines of evidence indicate that selenoproteins mainly act as cellular antioxidants. Here, we test this idea comparing the sensitivity to oxidative stress (paraquat and hydrogen peroxide) between wild type and heterozygous flies for the selenophosphate synthetase selD(ptuf) mutation. Whereas under normal laboratory conditions no difference in life span is observed, a significant decrease is seen in heterozygous flies treated with oxidant agents. In contrast, overexpression of the selD gene in motoneurons did not extend longevity. Our results strongly suggest that selD haploinsufficiency makes heterozygous flies more sensitive to oxidative stress and add further evidence to the role of selenoproteins as cellular antioxidants.
Morey
Marta
M
Departament de Genètica, Facultat de Biologia, Universitat de Barcelona, Diagonal 645, 08028 Barcelona, Spain.
Serras
Florenci
F
Corominas
Montserrat
M
D000818:Animals; D029721:Drosophila Proteins / Q000235:genetics*; D004331:Drosophila melanogaster / Q000187:drug effects / Q000502:physiology*; D018628:Gene Dosage; D005786:Gene Expression Regulation; D006579:Heterozygote; D006861:Hydrogen Peroxide / Q000633:toxicity; D008136:Longevity / Q000235:genetics; D008297:Male; D009046:Motor Neurons / Q000502:physiology; D018384:Oxidative Stress; D010269:Paraquat / Q000633:toxicity; D010770:Phosphotransferases / Q000235:genetics*
D029721:Drosophila Proteins; D006861:Hydrogen Peroxide; D010770:Phosphotransferases; C062762:selenophosphate synthetase; C109636:sps1 protein, Drosophila; D010269:Paraquat