Drosophila as a model system to study complex interactions that maintain immune and energy homeostasis

As part of collaborative research Dr. Geetanjali Chawla participated in a study that examined the metabolic remodeling that occurs in macrophages during bacterial infection.  This work has revealed that orthologs of Hypoxia inducible factor 1a (HIF1a) and Lactate dehydrogenase (LDH) are required for macrophage activation, bactericidal function of the immune cells and resistance to infection, thus documenting how metabolic rewiring of macrophages is crucial to host survival. In summary, this study has established Drosophila melanogaster as a powerful model for exploring the immune-metabolic mechanisms that control the functional polarization of macrophages and its impact on systemic metabolism.

The image shows localization of LDH:: mcherry (red) reporter (generated by Dr. Geetanjali Chawla in Indiana University) to many immune cells (green) in adult fruit flies. The image was acquired by Dr. G. Krejčová and Dr. Adam Bajgar.

Full article: https://elifesciences.org/articles/50414