Insertion Mutations of the shaggy Gene, Encoding Protein Kinase GSK3, Extend Drosophila melanogaster Lifespan

Abstract

The shaggy gene of Drosophila melanogaster encodes highly conserved serine-threonine protein kinase GSK3 (Glycogen Syntase Kinase 3), which plays an important role in different signaling pathways and metabolic processes. This study is the first to demonstrate that shaggy mutations affect lifespan, with an increase in longevity associated with a decrease in synapse activity. The results from this study on changes in shaggy expression in mutants suggest that the observed phenotypic changes are based on an alternation in the expression of minor shaggy transcripts induced by mutational changes in their regulatory region.