Effect of Drosophila ubiquitin carboxyl-terminal hydrolase overexpression on the Drosophila melanogaster eye development

Abstract

Human ubiquitin carboxyl-terminal hydrolase L1 (UCH-L1) is a member of deubiquitinating enzyme group and a component of ubiquitin-proteasome system. Being one of the neuron-specific proteins, abnormalities of UCH-L1 was observed in several neurodegenerative diseases such as Parkinson’s disease and Alzheimer’s disease. On the other hand, UCH-L1 was also found to be present in various kinds of cancers with inconsistent acting reported in different studies. Together these records indicated the involvement of UCH-L1 in maintaining normal activities of cells, tissues and organs. However, in vivo significance of the protein remains unclear. In addition, among the attempts made to approach the biological function of UCH-L1, there has been no previous report addressing its part in development. In order to explore the function of UCH-L1, we utilized Drosophila melanogaster as model to investigate effects of dUCH (a Drosophila homologue of human UCH-L1) on the development. Particularly in Drosophila eye development, in this study. Our experimental results revealed that specific overexpression of dUCH in eye tissue induced the disruption in ommatidia orientation and defects in differentiation of pigment cells. These results are evidence that support the role of dUCH as a development mediating factor.