PUBLICATION

Lessons from "Lower" Organisms: What Worms, Flies, and Zebrafish Can Teach Us about Human Energy Metabolism

Authors
Schlegel, A., and Stainier, D.Y.
ID
ZDB-PUB-071219-26
Date
2007
Source
PLoS Genetics   3(11): e199 (Review)
Registered Authors
Schlegel, Amnon, Stainier, Didier
Keywords
Lipids, Fats, Zebrafish, Gastrointestinal tract, Drosophila melanogaster, Gene regulation, Lipid metabolism, Homeostasis
MeSH Terms
  • Animals
  • Diptera/metabolism*
  • Energy Metabolism*
  • Fat Body/metabolism
  • Helminths/metabolism*
  • Helminths/physiology
  • Humans
  • Signal Transduction
  • Zebrafish/genetics
  • Zebrafish/metabolism*
PubMed
18081423 Full text @ PLoS Genet.
Abstract
A pandemic of metabolic diseases (atherosclerosis, diabetes mellitus, and obesity), unleashed by multiple social and economic factors beyond the control of most individuals, threatens to diminish human life span for the first time in the modern era. Given the redundancy and inherent complexity of processes regulating the uptake, transport, catabolism, and synthesis of nutrients, magic bullets to target these diseases will be hard to find. Recent studies using the worm Caenorhabditis elegans, the fly Drosophila melanogaster, and the zebrafish Danio rerio indicate that these "lower" metazoans possess unique attributes that should help in identifying, investigating, and even validating new pharmaceutical targets for these diseases. We summarize findings in these organisms that shed light on highly conserved pathways of energy homeostasis.
Genes / Markers
Figures
Expression
Phenotype
Mutations / Transgenics
Human Disease / Model
Sequence Targeting Reagents
Fish
Antibodies
Orthology
Engineered Foreign Genes
Mapping