Drosophila flies are versatile animal models for the study of genetic mutations in neuronal pathologies. Their small size allows performing in vivo experiments to obtain high resolution nuclear magnetic resonance spectra. Dr. Martine Decoville of CBM, researchers from CEMHTIand ESPCI Paris used spatially-resolved ¹H high-resolution MAS NMR to investigate in vivo metabolite contents in different segments of the fly body. A comparative study of metabolic changes was performed for three neurodegenerative disorders: two cell-specific neuronal and glial models of Huntington disease and a model of glutamate excitotoxicity. These 3 pathologies are characterized by specific and sometimes anatomically localized variations in metabolite concentrations. In two cases, the modifications of ¹H MAS NMR spectra localized in fly heads were significant enough to allow the creation of a predictive model.

Spatially-resolved metabolic profiling of living Drosophila in neurodegenerative conditions using 1H magic angle spinning NMR - Scientific Reports (2020) https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-020-66218-z