Researchers have identified the pathways in the fruit fly that are affected by acute METH toxicity, finding that it caused changes in the expression of genes involved with energy metabolism.
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CARDIFF: The devastating molecular events that can occur throughout the entire body as a result of methamphetamine exposure have been revealed by a new study involving fruit flies.
The research identified the genes and proteins that are affected by methamphetamine (METH), and the changes that indicate exposure to this abused, illicit drug may alter a cell's metabolism. These metabolism changes mirror those seen in rapidly growing cancer cells and may lead to future breakthroughs in cancer proliferation research.
"This is important because we know that methamphetamine influences cellular processes associated with aging, it affects spermatogenesis, and it impacts the heart. One could almost call METH a perfect storm toxin because it does so much damage to so many different tissues in the body," said co-author Barry Pittendrigh from the University of Illinois.
Exposing the fruit fly
Previous studies on the effects of the drug have focused purely on the brain, but by using the fruit flies (Drosophila melanogaster), the researchers were able to analyse changes occurring throughout the entire body, identifying several molecular pathways significantly altered by the drug.
"One of the great things about working with fruit flies is that because they're small, we can work with the whole organism and then look at the great diversity of tissues that are being impacted," said Pittendrigh of the study published in PLoS ONE.
METH exposure was found to influence molecular pathways associated with energy generation, sugar metabolism, sperm cell formation, cell structure, hormones, skeletal muscle and cardiac muscles.
Applications in cancer research
While healthy cells tend to use oxidative respiration to produce energy, it was discovered that METH exposure may lead to an increase of glycolysis in the cell.
Glycolysis is a faster and less efficient process that uses the rapid breakdown of glucose to produce energy without the need for oxygen.
Growing cancer cells also show this behaviour - called the Warburg effect - so the researchers believe their results could lead to a greater understanding of the mechanisms of cancer growth.
