Fig. 8: A single short-term H₂O₂ treatment causes premature death in per⁰ flies.

PAM neuron counts and survival of w¹¹¹⁸ and per⁰ flies following a 4-h exposure to 10% H₂O₂ at ZT20 when flies were 7 days old. a, b PAM neuron counts across aging in w¹¹¹⁸ (a) and per⁰ (b). PAM neuron loss was observed as early as day 14 in both genotypes compared to control groups treated with water only. Neurodegeneration progresses with age but is not accelerated in H₂O₂-treated flies. *p = 0.02 and ***p < 0.001 (two-tailed t-test). n = 12–20 hemispheres (see Source Data for individual sample numbers). Since H₂O₂-per⁰ flies exhibited a high mortality rate after 28 days, PAM neurons of this group were not examined thereafter. c, d % of surviving flies in w¹¹¹⁸ (c) and per⁰ (d). H₂O₂ treatment did not affect the survival of w¹¹¹⁸ flies, whereas H₂O₂-treated per⁰ flies had significantly reduced lifespans compared to the water-treated control group. ***p = 0.0002 (Log-rank test). In (c), n = 3 independent experiments for both control and H₂O₂ treatment, with a total of n = 324 w¹¹¹⁸ flies for control and n = 262 for H₂O₂ treatment. In (d), n = 3 independent experiments for both the control and the H₂O₂-treated groups, with a total of n = 190 per⁰ flies for the control and n = 203 for the H₂O₂-treated group. Source data are provided as a Source Data file.