College of Arts & Sciences

Shreya Mandloi

College of Arts & Sciences Biological Sciences

Faculty Mentor: Dr. Felice Elefant Biology

Haolin Zhang Co-Mentor

Histone Acetyltransferase Tip60 Rescues

Memory, Locomotion and Lifespan Deficits

Caused by Amyloid-βPeptide

Alzheimer’s disease (AD) features memory loss, bodily function deterioration and early death. Studies in our lab provide evidence of larval fly memory improvement by restoration of histone acetyltransferase Tip60 in amyloid precursor protein-induced AD neurodegeneration. Whether Tip60 can also protect against amyloid-β (Aβ)-induced memory, bodily function, and lifespan deficits remains unknown. Here we use a double transgenic fly model (Aβ42;Tip60) to restore Tip60 level in Aβ42 overexpression neurodegenerative fly brain. Using larval olfactory memory assay, our results show Tip60 restoration rescues short-term memory deficits. To measure larval locomotion, righting, body wall contraction, and line crossing assay are performed. Locomotion deficits are effectively rescued by Tip60 as well. In survival assay, Tip60 action prolongs life span of Aβ flies. We also monitor whether Tip60 can consistently improve AD symptoms by following-up flies until adulthood. We discover Tip60 reverses compromised locomotion in 28-day Aβ adult flies using geotaxis assay.