Understanding the role of nuclear envelope protein lamin Dm0 in regulating aging process in fruit fly, Drosophila melanogaster

• Main Author: Ly, Thanh Thao Nguyen
• Other Authors: Ong Chin Tong
• Format: Final Year Project
• Language: English
• Published: 2016
• Subjects: DRNTU::Science
• Online Access: http://hdl.handle.net/10356/68297
• Institution: Nanyang Technological University

Aging is a complex process characterized by progressive decline in cellular functions and physiology. Recent studies have focused on the effects of genetic and environmental interventions to target different aspects of aging using different model organisms. The fruit fly, Drosophila melanogaster is a genetically accessible model ideal for understanding the mechanism of aging. In this study, we are interested in investigating the underlying role of nuclear lamin Dm0 (lam D) protein in the aging process. Our findings suggested a correlation between the early reduction of lam D protein level and the decline in locomotion in both wild-type and transgenic flies. We employed the GAL4/UAS system to overexpress lam D protein at a specific time point of adult life and demonstrated that maintaining the level of lam D protein may improve the locomotor activity of the aged transgenic flies.