Category Archives: Molecular Organism

Natural alleles of the clock gene timeless differentially affect life-history traits in Drosophila

Andreatta G, Montagnese S, Costa R Front Physiol Circadian clocks orchestrate a variety of physiological and behavioural functions within the 24-h day. These timekeeping systems have also been implicated in developmental and reproductive processes that span more (or less) than 24 h. Whether natural alleles of cardinal clock genes affect entire sets of life-history traits […]

Mitochondrial Cytochrome c Oxidase Defects Alter Cellular Homeostasis of Transition Metals

Brischigliaro M, Badocco D, Costa R, Viscomi C, Zeviani M, Pastore P, Fernández-Vizarra E Front Cell Dev Biol The redox activity of cytochrome c oxidase (COX), the terminal oxidase of the mitochondrial respiratory chain (MRC), depends on the incorporation of iron and copper into its catalytic centers. Many mitochondrial proteins have specific roles for the synthesis and […]

Inhibition of the deubiquitinase USP8 corrects a Drosophila PINK1 model of mitochondria dysfunction

Von Stockum S, Sanchez-Martinez A, Corrà S, Chakraborty J, Marchesan E, Locatello L, Da-Rè C, Cusumano P, Caicci F, Ferrari V, Costa R, Bubacco L, Rasotto MB, Szabo I, Whitworth AJ, Scorrano L, Ziviani E Life Science Alliance Aberrant mitochondrial dynamics disrupts mitochondrial function and contributes to disease conditions. A targeted RNA interference screen for […]

Knockdown of APOPT1/COA8 Causes Cytochrome c Oxidase Deficiency, Neuromuscular Impairment, and Reduced Resistance to Oxidative Stress in Drosophila melanogaster

Brischigliaro M, Corrà S, Tregnago C, Fernandez-Vizarra E, Zeviani M, Costa R, De Pittà C Frontiers in Physiology Cytochrome c oxidase (COX) deficiency is the biochemical hallmark of several mitochondrial disorders, including subjects affected by mutations in apoptogenic-1 (APOPT1), recently renamed as COA8 (HGNC:20492). Loss-of-function mutations are responsible for a specific infantile or childhood-onset mitochondrial leukoencephalopathy with a chronic clinical course. […]

Peptidergic signaling from clock neurons regulates reproductive dormancy in Drosophila melanogaster.

Nagy D, Cusumano P, Andreatta G, Anduaga AM, Hermann-Luibl C, Reinhard N, Gesto J, Wegener C, Mazzotta G, Rosato E, Kyriacou CP, Helfrich-Förster C, Costa R. PLoS Genetics With the approach of winter, many insects switch to an alternative protective developmental program called diapause. Drosophila melanogaster females overwinter as adults by inducing a reproductive arrest that is […]

The RNA helicase BELLE is involved in circadian rhythmicity and in transposons regulation in Drosophila melanogaster

Paola Cusumano, Milena Damulewicz, Elena Carbognin, Laura Caccin, Antonietta Puricella, Valeria Specchia, Maria Pia Bozzetti, Rodolfo Costa, Gabriella M. Mazzotta Frontiers in Physiology Circadian clocks control and synchronize biological rhythms of several behavioral and physiological phenomena in most, if not all, organisms. Rhythm generation relies on molecular auto-regulatory oscillations of interlocked transcriptional-translational feedback loops. Rhythmic clock-gene […]