Electric-field induced sleep promotion and lifespan extension in Gaucher's disease model flies

Gaucher's disease (GD) is a genetic disease characterized by a mutation in the metabolic enzyme glucocerebrosidase (GBA1), leading to the accumulation of glucosylceramide in tissues. We previously discovered that a <i>minos</i>-inserted mutation in the <i>GBA1</i> gene of fruit flies, <i>Drosophila melanogaster</i>, mimics human neuronopathic GD (nGD) characteristics, providing a promising model for studying the molecular mechanisms of the disease. We also reported that extremely low-frequency electric fields (ELF-EFs) promote sleep and extend the lifespan of wild-type flies. In this study, we show that ELF-EFs have health-promoting effects on nGD model flies. Firstly, the total sleep time and sleep episode duration of EF-exposed nGD model flies increased. EFs also extended the lifespans of nGD model flies. Additionally, the expression of the endoplasmic reticulum stress-related gene <i>PERK</i> and autophagy-related gene <i>p62</i> were elevated after EF exposure. The effects of EF exposure on nGD flies are associated with the change of these genes expression. Our findings suggest that EF exposure may be effective as an additional therapy for nGD.