Anatomy and Neuroscience - Theses
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ItemThe adult Drosophila salivary gland: developing a new epithelial research model( 2021)Arthropod-borne viruses, also known as arboviruses, are transmitted to humans through arthropod bites. Viruses such as Dengue, West Nile, and Zika are transmitted through mosquito bites and cause serious illness in humans. These viruses are injected into a human host in the saliva of a feeding mosquito, a process that hinges on the virus invading the mosquito’s salivary glands. Therefore, a deep understanding of insect salivary glands is an important step in learning how to control arboviruses. One of the world’s most popular research organisms, Drosophila melanogaster, is a relative of the mosquito and of other insect disease vectors. Drosophila salivary glands could provide an excellent model for studying the transmission of arboviruses, unfortunately extraordinarily little is known about the glands of adult Drosophila. The aim of this research project was to develop the adult Drosophila salivary glands as a research model for studying the interactions between arboviruses and insect salivary glands. Since little is known about the glands, my investigations focused on understanding the structure, function, and maintenance of the cells within the salivary gland. To understand the structure of salivary glands, I first investigated the structure of the organ, before looking closely at individual cells. I characterised the structure of the cells by investigating localisation of cell-junctions, cytoskeletal elements, and cell-polarity markers. I also observed the establishment of these morphological features throughout different stages of development. Second, by combining the structural data with investigations into intracellular signals and membrane channels, I provided a hypothesis of the functions of salivary gland cells. Then, by analysing cell division and cell-maintenance pathways in the salivary glands, I provided an insight to how the salivary gland cell population is maintained. From this project the salivary glands emerged as a multifaceted research model that could be used to investigate arboviral diseases, epithelial tissues, and amitotic division.