The Journals of Gerontology Series A: Biological Sciences and Medical Sciences Advance Access originally published online on May 6, 2009
The Journals of Gerontology Series A: Biological Sciences and Medical Sciences 2009 64A(8):828-838; doi:10.1093/gerona/glp054
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Expression of hsp22 and hsp70 Transgenes Is Partially Predictive of Drosophila Survival Under Normal and Stress Conditions
Molecular and Computational Biology Program, Department of Biological Sciences, University of Southern California, Los Angeles
Address correspondence to John Tower, PhD, Molecular and Computational Biology Program, Department of Biological Sciences, University of Southern California, 1050 Childs Way, RRI 201, Los Angeles, CA 90089-2910. Email: jtower{at}usc.edu
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Drosophila Hsp70 is a highly conserved molecular chaperone with numerous cytoplasmic targets. Hsp22 is an alpha-crystallin–related chaperone (small hsp) that localizes to the mitochondrial matrix. The hsp70 and hsp22 genes are induced in response to acute heat and oxidative stress and are also upregulated during normal aging. Here the hsp22 promoter (–314 to +10) and the hsp70 promoter (–194 to +10) were used to drive expression of the fluorescent reporter proteins green fluorescent protein (GFP) and Discosoma sp. red fluorescent protein (DsRED) in transgenic flies. Multiple transgenic lines were analyzed under normal culture conditions and under oxidative stress and heat stress conditions that significantly shorten life span. Flies were individually housed, and GFP (or DsRED) was quantified at young-age time points using the fluorescence stereomicroscope and image analysis software. Expression of the hsp reporters in young flies was partially predictive of remaining life span: Young flies with high expression tended to die sooner under both control and stress conditions.
Keywords Biomarker; Aging; Oxidative stress; GFP; hsp
Received: September 2, 2008; Accepted: December 4, 2008