Priority Research Paper Volume 12, Issue 11 pp 10041—10058

Figure 4. Flies with neuronal overexpression of Ldh show increased neurodegeneration and accelerated decline in locomotor activity rhythms. (A, B) Representative brain section images of 55-day old control elav^ts>w (A) and elav^ts>Ldh flies (B) in 25°C (arrows indicate vacuoles). (C, D) Graphs show the average area (C) and number (D) of vacuoles per brain in the brains of elav^ts>Ldh flies and age-matched controls. Both area and the number of vacuoles were significantly increased in elav^ts>Ldh (n=36) flies compared to elav^ts>w (n=38). ****p<0.0001; unpaired t-test with Welch’s correction. (E, F) There was no significant difference in the average area (E) and number (F) of vacuoles in 55-day old repo^ts>Ldh (n=19) brains compared to age-matched repo^ts>w control (n=18). Error bars indicate SEM. (G) Percent of rhythmic elav^ts>Ldh flies was markedly reduced with age compared to elav^ts>w controls. (H) Representative actrograms of individual 50-day old elav^ts>w (rhythmic) and elav^ts>Ldh (arrhythmic) flies. Gray areas indicate lights off. (I) Percentage of rhythmic repo^ts>Ldh flies were similar to repo^ts>w controls across lifespan. At least 30 flies were tested for each age group and each genotype. (J) Representative actograms of rhythmic 50-day old repo^ts>w and repo^ts>Ldh flies. (K) Total daily activity of 35-day old elav^ts>Ldh (n=31) flies averaged over six days in constant darkness was significantly reduced relative to control elav^ts>w (n=30) flies. (L) Total daily activity of 35 days-old repo^ts>Ldh (n=30) flies was also significantly lower than in controls (n=31). Statistical significance by unpaired t-test with Welch’s correction (****p<0.0001). Error bars indicate SEM.