Date of Award

Spring 4-29-2025

Document Type

Honors Project

Degree Name

Bachelor of Science

Department

Biological Sciences

Department Chair or Program Director

Baker, Dianne

First Advisor

Morriss, Ginny

Major or Concentration

Biology

Abstract

Myotonic Dystrophy type 1 (DM1) is caused by CTG-repeat expansion in the DMPK gene, leading to skeletal muscle weakening and wasting. Irisin, a muscle-secreted cytokine released during exercise, promotes muscle growth, repair, and metabolism. Given irisin’s role in promoting muscle growth, we explored how activity-induced Idit expression impacts muscle function in a Drosophila model of DM1. Healthy control (CUG20) and DM1 (CUG250) flies were generated using the UAS-Gal4 system. CUG20 and CUG250 flies underwent a three-week exercise regimen, with the goal of increasing levels of Iditarod protein, the fruit fly homolog of irisin. Following exercise training, muscle function was assessed by climbing velocity (cm/sec) and flight landing height (cm) in a flight cylinder. Significant main effects of sex and exercise were shown observed in climbing velocity; however, data did not show a significant difference between the climbing or flight performance comparing repeat length or exercise. Since large variation in behavioral measures could account for the non-significant results, power analysis was conducted and revealed that the sample size used in this study was too small. Completion of this project at appropriate statistical power will highlight whether exercise-induced expression of myokines like irisin can act as therapeutic targets in DM1.

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