Cargando…

The Role of Carcinine in Signaling at the Drosophila Photoreceptor Synapse

The Drosophila melanogaster photoreceptor cell has long served as a model system for researchers focusing on how animal sensory neurons receive information from their surroundings and translate this information into chemical and electrical messages. Electroretinograph (ERG) analysis of Drosophila mu...

Descripción completa

Detalles Bibliográficos
Autores principales: Gavin, Brendan A, Arruda, Susan E, Dolph, Patrick J
Formato: Texto
Lenguaje:English
Publicado: Public Library of Science 2007
Materias:
Acceso en línea:https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2134947/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/18069895
http://dx.doi.org/10.1371/journal.pgen.0030206
_version_ 1782142785422360576
author Gavin, Brendan A
Arruda, Susan E
Dolph, Patrick J
author_facet Gavin, Brendan A
Arruda, Susan E
Dolph, Patrick J
author_sort Gavin, Brendan A
collection PubMed
description The Drosophila melanogaster photoreceptor cell has long served as a model system for researchers focusing on how animal sensory neurons receive information from their surroundings and translate this information into chemical and electrical messages. Electroretinograph (ERG) analysis of Drosophila mutants has helped to elucidate some of the genes involved in the visual transduction pathway downstream of the photoreceptor cell, and it is now clear that photoreceptor cell signaling is dependent upon the proper release and recycling of the neurotransmitter histamine. While the neurotransmitter transporters responsible for clearing histamine, and its metabolite carcinine, from the synaptic cleft have remained unknown, a strong candidate for a transporter of either substrate is the uncharacterized inebriated protein. The inebriated gene (ine) encodes a putative neurotransmitter transporter that has been localized to photoreceptor cells in Drosophila and mutations in ine result in an abnormal ERG phenotype in Drosophila. Loss-of-function mutations in ebony, a gene required for the synthesis of carcinine in Drosophila, suppress components of the mutant ine ERG phenotype, while loss-of-function mutations in tan, a gene necessary for the hydrolysis of carcinine in Drosophila, have no effect on the ERG phenotype in ine mutants. We also show that by feeding wild-type flies carcinine, we can duplicate components of mutant ine ERGs. Finally, we demonstrate that treatment with H(3) receptor agonists or inverse agonists rescue several components of the mutant ine ERG phenotype. Here, we provide pharmacological and genetic epistatic evidence that ine encodes a carcinine neurotransmitter transporter. We also speculate that the oscillations observed in mutant ine ERG traces are the result of the aberrant activity of a putative H(3) receptor.
format Text
id pubmed-2134947
institution National Center for Biotechnology Information
language English
publishDate 2007
publisher Public Library of Science
record_format MEDLINE/PubMed
spelling pubmed-21349472007-12-13 The Role of Carcinine in Signaling at the Drosophila Photoreceptor Synapse Gavin, Brendan A Arruda, Susan E Dolph, Patrick J PLoS Genet Research Article The Drosophila melanogaster photoreceptor cell has long served as a model system for researchers focusing on how animal sensory neurons receive information from their surroundings and translate this information into chemical and electrical messages. Electroretinograph (ERG) analysis of Drosophila mutants has helped to elucidate some of the genes involved in the visual transduction pathway downstream of the photoreceptor cell, and it is now clear that photoreceptor cell signaling is dependent upon the proper release and recycling of the neurotransmitter histamine. While the neurotransmitter transporters responsible for clearing histamine, and its metabolite carcinine, from the synaptic cleft have remained unknown, a strong candidate for a transporter of either substrate is the uncharacterized inebriated protein. The inebriated gene (ine) encodes a putative neurotransmitter transporter that has been localized to photoreceptor cells in Drosophila and mutations in ine result in an abnormal ERG phenotype in Drosophila. Loss-of-function mutations in ebony, a gene required for the synthesis of carcinine in Drosophila, suppress components of the mutant ine ERG phenotype, while loss-of-function mutations in tan, a gene necessary for the hydrolysis of carcinine in Drosophila, have no effect on the ERG phenotype in ine mutants. We also show that by feeding wild-type flies carcinine, we can duplicate components of mutant ine ERGs. Finally, we demonstrate that treatment with H(3) receptor agonists or inverse agonists rescue several components of the mutant ine ERG phenotype. Here, we provide pharmacological and genetic epistatic evidence that ine encodes a carcinine neurotransmitter transporter. We also speculate that the oscillations observed in mutant ine ERG traces are the result of the aberrant activity of a putative H(3) receptor. Public Library of Science 2007-12 2007-12-07 /pmc/articles/PMC2134947/ /pubmed/18069895 http://dx.doi.org/10.1371/journal.pgen.0030206 Text en © 2007 Gavin et al. http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author and source are properly credited.
spellingShingle Research Article
Gavin, Brendan A
Arruda, Susan E
Dolph, Patrick J
The Role of Carcinine in Signaling at the Drosophila Photoreceptor Synapse
title The Role of Carcinine in Signaling at the Drosophila Photoreceptor Synapse
title_full The Role of Carcinine in Signaling at the Drosophila Photoreceptor Synapse
title_fullStr The Role of Carcinine in Signaling at the Drosophila Photoreceptor Synapse
title_full_unstemmed The Role of Carcinine in Signaling at the Drosophila Photoreceptor Synapse
title_short The Role of Carcinine in Signaling at the Drosophila Photoreceptor Synapse
title_sort role of carcinine in signaling at the drosophila photoreceptor synapse
topic Research Article
url https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2134947/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/18069895
http://dx.doi.org/10.1371/journal.pgen.0030206
work_keys_str_mv AT gavinbrendana theroleofcarcinineinsignalingatthedrosophilaphotoreceptorsynapse
AT arrudasusane theroleofcarcinineinsignalingatthedrosophilaphotoreceptorsynapse
AT dolphpatrickj theroleofcarcinineinsignalingatthedrosophilaphotoreceptorsynapse
AT gavinbrendana roleofcarcinineinsignalingatthedrosophilaphotoreceptorsynapse
AT arrudasusane roleofcarcinineinsignalingatthedrosophilaphotoreceptorsynapse
AT dolphpatrickj roleofcarcinineinsignalingatthedrosophilaphotoreceptorsynapse