?當(dāng)暴露于大量酒精下時(shí),，果蠅也會(huì)像人類一樣“喝醉”,。這一結(jié)果也許能解釋為什么有些人對(duì)酒精有基因?qū)W方面的依賴性。
??根據(jù)10月20日發(fā)表于刊物《Genome Biology》上的結(jié)果，人類和果蠅對(duì)酒精的反應(yīng)在基因?qū)W水平上非常相似,。研究人員表示,，在果蠅中，暴露于酒精條件下時(shí)很多基因的表達(dá)被改變,，一些基因的變化會(huì)對(duì)果蠅對(duì)酒精的敏感程度產(chǎn)生影響,。同樣這些變化在人類身上也發(fā)現(xiàn)過(guò)。因此作者表示,，對(duì)果蠅Drosophila的研究能為人類對(duì)酒精反應(yīng)的基因基礎(chǔ)提供幫助,，包括酗酒。
??美國(guó)North Carolina州立大學(xué)的Tatiana Morozova,，Robert Anholt和Trudy Mackay分析了暴露于酒精后Drosophila基因活性的變化,。通過(guò)測(cè)量基因表達(dá)的水平，他們比較了暴露于乙醇前后果蠅的基因表達(dá),。
??小組的研究結(jié)果表明暴露于乙醇中能改變果蠅某些基因的表達(dá),，他們發(fā)現(xiàn)了582個(gè)這樣的基因，其中一些表達(dá)得到了促進(jìn),，另一些則被抑制,。對(duì)酒精耐受性強(qiáng)的果蠅促進(jìn)和抑制的基因又不一樣。這些基因包括脂肪酸代謝合成的基因,。作者表示：“酒精對(duì)脂肪酸合成的影響在酗酒者體內(nèi)也被發(fā)現(xiàn)過(guò),。在果蠅體內(nèi)發(fā)現(xiàn)酒精誘導(dǎo)的與中間代謝和脂肪酸合成有關(guān)的酶非常有意思。”
??Morozova等人通過(guò)分析果蠅基因變化找到了影響酒精敏感度和耐受性的基因,。他們發(fā)現(xiàn)這些基因的改變會(huì)對(duì)乙醇耐受性等有影響,。
英文原文：
Human Alcohol Abuse: "Drunk" Fruit Flies Could Shed Light On Genetic Link
Fruit flies get "drunk," just like humans, when exposed to large amounts of alcohol and may in future help to explain why some people are genetically predisposed to alcohol abuse. Humans and fruit flies respond to alcohol in a very similar way at the gene level, according to a study published today in the open access journal Genome Biology. The researchers show that, in the fruit fly, the expression of many genes is modified by exposure to alcohol, and that mutations in some of these genes affect the flies' sensitivity to alcohol. Many of the genes analysed are also found in humans and the authors of the study conclude that studies in the fruit fly Drosophila could shed light on the genetic basis of human response to alcohol, including the susceptibility to alcohol abuse.
Tatiana Morozova, Robert Anholt and Trudy Mackay, from North Carolina State Univeristy, USA, analysed the activity of all Drosophila genes after exposure to alcohol. Using microarray analysis, a technique that enables to measure gene expression levels, they compared the gene expression levels in flies before they were exposed to ethanol, directly after exposure and two hours after exposure.
The results of Morozova et al.'s study show that one single exposure to ethanol is enough to modify the expression of some genes in the fruit fly. Morozova et al. identified a total of 582 genes whose expression is modified by exposure to ethanol. Some of these genes are down-regulated, while others are up-regulated, and a different set of genes is up-regulated as the flies become more tolerant to alcohol. Such genes include genes involved in biosynthesis and the regulation of fatty acid metabolism. "Alcohol-induced fatty acid biosynthesis is well documented in [human] heavy drinkers", write the authors. "The identification of multiple enzymes associated with intermediary metabolism and fatty acid biosynthesis in the response to alcohol exposure in Drosophila is, therefore, of particular interest."
Morozova et al. then identified genes that affect sensitivity or tolerance to alcohol, by analysing flies with mutated versions of the genes identified in the microarray experiment. They find that mutations in these genes can induce increased or reduced sensitivity to the effects of ethanol at first exposure, followed by increased or reduced tolerance. Morozova et al. find that the development of tolerance is only partly dependent on initial sensitivity to ethanol.
