So you have nurse-like flies, now what? Investigation of the major royal jelly proteins as potential neuroprotective proteins

The Western honey bee (Apis mellifera) has a set of nine recently duplicated genes called the Major Royal Jelly Proteins (MRJPs). In addition to being expressed in the hypopharyngeal glands, these proteins are some of the most highly expressed in the honey be brain. These genes are well known for their nutritive role, but the functions of these genes within the brain are still poorly understood and understudied. Previously, we developed lines of MRJP expressing Drosophila to further investigate the role of these in the brain. Our transcriptomic data showed the expression of these genes results in a very nurse-like brain state and the MRJPs influence anti-aging pathways within the brain tissue. From this we posit that these genes could have a neuroprotective effect during the transition from nurse to forager. To further investigate this possibility, we once again turned to our MRJP expressing Drosophila. Using a sucrose discrimination assay and Paraquat exposure we examined the possible neuroprotective effects of the MRJPs in the honey bee brain. Our results further help to elucidate the potential roles of the MRJPs in the transition between nurse to forager and prospective uses of these proteins future human health contexts.