Effects of dietary protein restriction on cell proliferation in Drosophila melanogaster cancer models
Different types of cancer are responsible for a significant share of deaths worldwide. In addition to conventional treatment methods, such as pharmaceutical therapeutics and radiation therapy, other approaches have also become the focus of oncological research in recent years. The influence of various dietary interventions has shown health-promoting effects that are currently being researched. In this study, the effects of dietary protein on tumor development in the model organism Drosophila melanogaster were examined. Using a chemically defined feed medium and the spatiotemporal gene expression system TARGET, the effect of a protein-reduced diet on tumor phenotypes in various organs was investigated. In the midgut, an effect reducing tumor growth and prolonging lifespan was demonstrated. In the case of a glial cell-localized tumor model, a significant extension of lifespan was also observed. Based on the midgut cancer model, the dependency between the induced oncogene and the effectiveness of a protein-reduced diet was also investigated. This showed that a protein-reduced diet resulted in reduced tumor growth with activation of various relevant oncogenes. The effect of protein reduction also depended on the degree of protein restriction. For example, a diet with an increased protein content resulted in a significant reduction in lifespan and a change in tumor phenotype. When the protein content was reduced, there was a simultaneous reduction in tumor growth and an associated increase in lifespan. I analysed the kinase activity, which revealed significant changes in tumor flies and between tumor flies fed on a normal diet and DR. Furthermore, it was shown that pharmaceutical interventions with inhibitors known from human medicine in combination with a protein-reduced diet can reduce tumour growth more strongly and restore the lifespan better than a diet or pharmaceutical intervention alone.
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