Metabolic alterations in a Drosophila model of Parkinson’s disease based on DJ-1 deficiency

ABSTRACT Parkinson’s disease (PD) is the second most common neurodegenerative disorder whose physiopathology is still unclear. Besides, it is urgent to discover new biomarkers and therapeutic targets to facilitate its diagnosis and treatment. Previous studies performed in PD models and samples from PD patients already demonstrated that metabolic alterations were associated with this disease. In this context, the aim of this study is to give a better understanding of metabolic disturbances underlying PD pathogenesis. To achieve this goal, we used a Drosophila PD model based on inactivation of the DJ-1β gene (ortholog of human DJ-1 ). Metabolomic analyses were performed in 1-day-old and 15-day-old DJ-1β mutants and control flies using 1 H nuclear magnetic resonance spectroscopy, combined with expression and enzymatic activity assays of proteins implicated in altered pathways. Our results showed that PD model flies exhibit protein metabolism alterations, a shift from tricarboxylic acid cycle to glycolytic pathway to obtain ATP, together with an increase in the expression of some urea cycle enzymes. Thus, these metabolic changes could be contributing to PD pathogenesis and might constitute possible therapeutic targets and/or biomarkers for this disease.