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.
Lessons from “Lower” Organisms: What Worms, Flies, and Zebrafish Can Teach Us about Human Energy Metabolism
Published 2007 in PLoS Genetics
ABSTRACT
PUBLICATION RECORD
- Publication year
2007
- Venue
PLoS Genetics
- Publication date
2007-11-01
- Fields of study
Biology, Medicine
- Identifiers
- External record
- Source metadata
Semantic Scholar, PubMed
CITATION MAP
EXTRACTION MAP
CLAIMS
CONCEPTS
- caenorhabditis elegans
A nematode model organism discussed as one of the lower metazoans used to study energy metabolism.
Aliases: worm, worms, C. elegans
- conserved pathways
Biological pathways that are shared across species and implicated here in energy regulation.
Aliases: highly conserved pathways
- danio rerio
A zebrafish model organism discussed as one of the lower metazoans used to study energy metabolism.
Aliases: zebrafish
- drosophila melanogaster
A fruit fly model organism discussed as one of the lower metazoans used to study energy metabolism.
Aliases: fly, flies, D. melanogaster
- energy homeostasis
The conserved regulation of nutrient uptake, transport, catabolism, and synthesis that maintains energy balance.
Aliases: energy metabolism
- lower metazoans
Non-vertebrate animal models such as worms, flies, and zebrafish used in the review to inform human metabolism.
Aliases: lower organisms
- metabolic diseases
A group of disorders highlighted in the abstract that includes atherosclerosis, diabetes mellitus, and obesity.
Aliases: atherosclerosis, diabetes mellitus, obesity
- pharmaceutical targets
Biological molecules or pathways considered potential drug targets for treating metabolic disease.
Aliases: drug targets, new pharmaceutical targets