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Gαq and Phospholipase Cβ signaling regulate nociceptor sensitivity in Drosophila melanogaster larvae

Drosophila melanogaster larvae detect noxious thermal and mechanical stimuli in their environment using polymodal nociceptor neurons whose dendrites tile the larval body wall. Activation of these nociceptors by potentially tissue-damaging stimuli elicits a stereotyped escape locomotion response. The...

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Autores principales: Herman, Joshua A., Willits, Adam B., Bellemer, Andrew
Formato: Online Artículo Texto
Lenguaje:English
Publicado: PeerJ Inc. 2018
Materias:
Acceso en línea:https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC6151255/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/30258723
http://dx.doi.org/10.7717/peerj.5632
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author Herman, Joshua A.
Willits, Adam B.
Bellemer, Andrew
author_facet Herman, Joshua A.
Willits, Adam B.
Bellemer, Andrew
author_sort Herman, Joshua A.
collection PubMed
description Drosophila melanogaster larvae detect noxious thermal and mechanical stimuli in their environment using polymodal nociceptor neurons whose dendrites tile the larval body wall. Activation of these nociceptors by potentially tissue-damaging stimuli elicits a stereotyped escape locomotion response. The cellular and molecular mechanisms that regulate nociceptor function are increasingly well understood, but gaps remain in our knowledge of the broad mechanisms that control nociceptor sensitivity. In this study, we use cell-specific knockdown and overexpression to show that nociceptor sensitivity to noxious thermal and mechanical stimuli is correlated with levels of Gαq and phospholipase Cβ signaling. Genetic manipulation of these signaling mechanisms does not result in changes in nociceptor morphology, suggesting that changes in nociceptor function do not arise from changes in nociceptor development, but instead from changes in nociceptor activity. These results demonstrate roles for Gαq and phospholipase Cβ signaling in facilitating the basal sensitivity of the larval nociceptors to noxious thermal and mechanical stimuli and suggest future studies to investigate how these signaling mechanisms may participate in neuromodulation of sensory function.
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spelling pubmed-61512552018-09-26 Gαq and Phospholipase Cβ signaling regulate nociceptor sensitivity in Drosophila melanogaster larvae Herman, Joshua A. Willits, Adam B. Bellemer, Andrew PeerJ Cell Biology Drosophila melanogaster larvae detect noxious thermal and mechanical stimuli in their environment using polymodal nociceptor neurons whose dendrites tile the larval body wall. Activation of these nociceptors by potentially tissue-damaging stimuli elicits a stereotyped escape locomotion response. The cellular and molecular mechanisms that regulate nociceptor function are increasingly well understood, but gaps remain in our knowledge of the broad mechanisms that control nociceptor sensitivity. In this study, we use cell-specific knockdown and overexpression to show that nociceptor sensitivity to noxious thermal and mechanical stimuli is correlated with levels of Gαq and phospholipase Cβ signaling. Genetic manipulation of these signaling mechanisms does not result in changes in nociceptor morphology, suggesting that changes in nociceptor function do not arise from changes in nociceptor development, but instead from changes in nociceptor activity. These results demonstrate roles for Gαq and phospholipase Cβ signaling in facilitating the basal sensitivity of the larval nociceptors to noxious thermal and mechanical stimuli and suggest future studies to investigate how these signaling mechanisms may participate in neuromodulation of sensory function. PeerJ Inc. 2018-09-20 /pmc/articles/PMC6151255/ /pubmed/30258723 http://dx.doi.org/10.7717/peerj.5632 Text en ©2018 Herman 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 (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/) , which permits unrestricted use, distribution, reproduction and adaptation in any medium and for any purpose provided that it is properly attributed. For attribution, the original author(s), title, publication source (PeerJ) and either DOI or URL of the article must be cited.
spellingShingle Cell Biology
Herman, Joshua A.
Willits, Adam B.
Bellemer, Andrew
Gαq and Phospholipase Cβ signaling regulate nociceptor sensitivity in Drosophila melanogaster larvae
title Gαq and Phospholipase Cβ signaling regulate nociceptor sensitivity in Drosophila melanogaster larvae
title_full Gαq and Phospholipase Cβ signaling regulate nociceptor sensitivity in Drosophila melanogaster larvae
title_fullStr Gαq and Phospholipase Cβ signaling regulate nociceptor sensitivity in Drosophila melanogaster larvae
title_full_unstemmed Gαq and Phospholipase Cβ signaling regulate nociceptor sensitivity in Drosophila melanogaster larvae
title_short Gαq and Phospholipase Cβ signaling regulate nociceptor sensitivity in Drosophila melanogaster larvae
title_sort gαq and phospholipase cβ signaling regulate nociceptor sensitivity in drosophila melanogaster larvae
topic Cell Biology
url https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC6151255/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/30258723
http://dx.doi.org/10.7717/peerj.5632
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