# Regulation of Synaptic Dysfunction and Maintenance with age using Drosophila

> **NIH NIH R01** · LEHIGH UNIVERSITY · 2022 · $336,239

## Abstract

Project Summary
Although much is known regarding the development of synapses, very little is known about how these complex
structures are maintained throughout the aging process. Defects in synaptic communication are responsible
for a great number of neurological disorders, and they are associated with the earliest stages of several
neurodegenerative diseases. A major hurdle in the field has been the lack of a genetically tractable model
system in which to systematically assess synaptic dysfunction over time in vivo.
 To address this issue, we propose to use Drosophila to examine the structural and functional
impairment of synaptic integrity with aging in adult flight muscles. Our guiding hypothesis is that maintaining
synaptic structure and function requires a conserved set of genes involved in trans-synaptic signaling, and that
disruption of these signaling pathways are among the early deficits in neurological disorders. To test this
hypothesis, we propose to pursue three Specific Aims. The first Aim is to identify the mechanisms underlying
synaptic dysfunction in mayday mutants, which we previously identified as displaying age-dependent
denervation of flight motor neurons. Our second aim is to characterize novel genes associated with synaptic
impairment that we identified through a genome-wide screen. Our third Aim is to determine the structural and
functional impairment of synapses in a model of Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis (ALS).
 Our proposed research has the potential to reveal the cellular and molecular mechanisms responsible
for maintaining synaptic integrity with age, many of which will likely serve as potential therapeutic targets for
developing treatment strategies for several neurological disorders.

## Key facts

- **NIH application ID:** 10427175
- **Project number:** 5R01NS110727-04
- **Recipient organization:** LEHIGH UNIVERSITY
- **Principal Investigator:** Daniel T. Babcock
- **Activity code:** R01 (R01, R21, SBIR, etc.)
- **Funding institute:** NIH
- **Fiscal year:** 2022
- **Award amount:** $336,239
- **Award type:** 5
- **Project period:** 2019-05-15 → 2024-04-30

## Primary source

NIH RePORTER: https://reporter.nih.gov/project-details/10427175

## Citation

> US National Institutes of Health, RePORTER application 10427175, Regulation of Synaptic Dysfunction and Maintenance with age using Drosophila (5R01NS110727-04). Retrieved via AI Analytics 2026-06-11 from https://api.ai-analytics.org/grant/nih/10427175. Licensed CC0.

---

*[NIH grants dataset](/datasets/nih-grants) · CC0 1.0*