Drosophila model of anti-retroviral therapy induced peripheral neuropathy and nociceptive hypersensitivity

Drosophila as a Model for Human Viral Neuroinfections

The study of human neurological infection faces many technical and ethical challenges. While not as common as mammalian models, the use of Drosophila (fruit fly) in the investigation of virus–host dynamics is a powerful research tool. In this review, we focus on the benefits and caveats of using Drosophila as a model for neurological infections and neuroimmunity. Through the examination of in vitro, in vivo and transgenic systems, we highlight select examples to illustrate the use of flies for the study of exogenous and endogenous viruses associated with neurological disease. In each case, phenotypes in Drosophila are compared to those in human conditions. In addition, we discuss antiviral drug screening in flies and how investigating virus–host interactions may lead to novel antiviral drug targets. Together, we highlight standardized and reproducible readouts of fly behaviour, motor function and neurodegeneration that permit an accurate assessment of neurological outcomes for the study of viral infection in fly models. Adoption of Drosophila as a valuable model system for neurological infections has and will continue to guide the discovery of many novel virus–host interactions.

First person – Keegan Bush

First Person is a series of interviews with the first authors of a selection of papers published in Biology Open, helping early-career researchers promote themselves alongside their papers. Keegan Bush is first author on ‘Drosophila model of anti-retroviral therapy induced peripheral neuropathy and nociceptive hypersensitivity’, published in BiO. Keegan is a PhD Student in the lab of Yogesh Wairkar and Shao-Jun Tang in the departments of Neurology and Neuroscience, and Cell Biology and Anatomy, at Galveston University, Texas, USA, investigating how anti-retroviral drugs cause nociceptive hypersensitivity in people living with HIV.