Biology Project Abstract
BREACHING THE PERITROPHIC MEMBRANE OF THE DROSOPHILA LARVAE
Presenter:
Yuan Liu, Illinois Mathematics and Science Academy, 1500 West Sullivan Road, Aurora, IL, 60506; ue88@imsa.edu
Mentor:
Dr. Ronald Dubreuil, University of Illinois at Chicago, 840 West Taylor MC 067, Chicago, IL, 60607; 312-4123-7831; ron@uic.edu
Abstract:
Copper cells in the midgut of the Drosophila larva secrete stomach acid. One way to study the biology of these cells would be to feed a pharmacological agent to the larvae and study the effects on acid secretion. However, such experiments have been impossible because the ingested food is separated from the copper cells by a peritrophic membrane. The peritrophic membrane is a barrier that surrounds the food and protects epithelial cells from pathogens. However, the peritrophic membrane also prevents experimental agents from reaching the epithelial cells. Our goal is to better understand the properties of the peritrophic membrane so that we can bypass it and study the copper cells. In feeding experiments, the fluorescence dye FITC freely crossed the peritrophic membrane and into the apical domains of copper cells. FITC coupled with dextran did not. These two markers are being used to search for agents that disrupt the permeability barrier of the peritrophic membrane.