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Model Organisms in Drug Discovery

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5<br />

Drosophila – a <strong>Model</strong> System<br />

for Targets and Lead<br />

Identification <strong>in</strong> Cancer and<br />

Metabolic Disorders<br />

Cor<strong>in</strong>a Schu¨tt, Barbara Froesch and Ernst Hafen<br />

Genetic and genomic research <strong>in</strong> model organisms has tremendously<br />

accelerated our understand<strong>in</strong>g of the basic biological processes that lie at<br />

the heart of human disease. The genetic dissection of disease-relevant<br />

signal<strong>in</strong>g pathways <strong>in</strong> Drosophila offers an ideal tool to identify novel drug<br />

targets for human diseases. In this chapter we outl<strong>in</strong>e the conservation of<br />

signal<strong>in</strong>g pathways and the different tools available <strong>in</strong> Drosophila that are<br />

suitable for target identification and target validation, as well as for direct<br />

screen<strong>in</strong>g for biologically active low-molecular-weight compounds.<br />

5.1 Evolutionary conservation of disease-related pathways<br />

<strong>in</strong> Drosophila<br />

Analysis of the genetic basis of the development of <strong>in</strong>vertebrate model<br />

organisms such as Drosophila melanogaster and Caenorhabditis elegans has<br />

confronted us with a stunn<strong>in</strong>g degree of conservation of basic developmental<br />

processes <strong>in</strong> <strong>in</strong>vertebrates and disease-related processes <strong>in</strong> humans. Of more<br />

than 1000 genes associated with human diseases, 77% are conserved <strong>in</strong><br />

<strong>Model</strong> <strong>Organisms</strong> <strong>in</strong> <strong>Drug</strong> <strong>Discovery</strong>. Edited by Pamela M. Carroll and Kev<strong>in</strong> Fitzgerald<br />

Copyright © 2003 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. ISBN: 0-470-84893-6

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