The dysregulated Pink1- Drosophila mitochondrial proteome is partially corrected with exercise

One of the genes which has been linked to the onset of juvenile/early onset Parkinson’s disease (PD) is PINK1. There is evidence that supports the therapeutic potential of exercise in the alleviation of PD symptoms. It is possible that exercise may enhance synaptic plasticity, protect against neuro-inflammation and modulate L-Dopa regulated signalling pathways. We explored the effects of exercise on Pink1 deficient Drosophila melanogaster which undergo neurodegeneration and muscle degeneration. We used a ‘power-tower’ type exercise platform to deliver exercise activity to Pink1- and age matched wild-type flies. Mitochondrial proteomic profiles responding to exercise were obtained. Of the 516 proteins identified, 105 proteins had different levels between Pink1- and wild-type (WT) non-exercised D. melanogaster. Gene ontology enrichment analysis and STRING network analysis highlighted proteins and pathways with altered expression within the mitochondrial proteome. Comparison of the Pink1-exercised proteome to WT proteomes showed that exercising the Pink1- flies caused their proteomic profile to return towards wild-type levels.