Arsenic toxicity in the <i>Drosophila</i> brain at single cell resolution.

ABSTRACT: Arsenic is an ubiquitous environmental toxicant with harmful physiological effects, including neurotoxicity. Modulation of arsenic-induced gene expression in the brain cannot be readily studied in human subjects. However, Drosophila allows quantification of transcriptional responses to neurotoxins at single cell resolution across the entire brain in a single analysis. We exposed Drosophila melanogaster to a chronic dose of NaAsO₂ that does not cause rapid lethality and measured survival and negative geotaxis as a proxy of sensorimotor integration. Females survive longer than males but show earlier physiological impairment in climbing ability. Single-nuclei RNA sequencing showed widespread sex-antagonistic transcriptional responses with modulation of gene expression

SUBMITTER: Chaturvedi A 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC12287011 | biostudies-literature | 2025

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature