Isoform- and cell-specific function of tyrosine decarboxylase in the Drosophila Malpighian tubule

Managing fuels and fluids: Network integration of osmoregulatory and metabolic hormonal circuits in the polymodal control of homeostasis in insects

Osmoregulation in insects is an essential process whereby changes in hemolymph osmotic pressure induce the release of diuretic or antidiuretic hormones to recruit individual osmoregulatory responses in a manner that optimizes overall homeostasis. However, the mechanisms by which different osmoregulatory circuits interact with other homeostatic networks to implement the correct homeostatic program remain largely unexplored. Surprisingly, recent advances in insect genetics have revealed several important metabolic functions are regulated by classic osmoregulatory pathways, suggesting that internal cues related to osmotic and metabolic perturbations are integrated by the same hormonal networks. Here, we review our current knowledge on the network mechanisms that underpin systemic osmoregulation and discuss the remarkable parallels between the hormonal networks that regulate body fluid balance and those involved in energy homeostasis to provide a framework for understanding the polymodal optimization of homeostasis in insects.

Cloning and characterisation of NMDA receptors in the Pacific oyster, Crassostrea gigas (Thunberg, 1793) in relation to metamorphosis and catecholamine synthesis

Bivalve metamorphosis is a developmental transition from a free-living larva to a benthic juvenile (spat), regulated by a complex interaction of neurotransmitters and neurohormones such as L-DOPA and epinephrine (catecholamine). We recently suggested an N-Methyl-D-aspartate (NMDA) receptor pathway as an additional and previously unknown regulator of bivalve metamorphosis. To explore this theory further, we successfully induced metamorphosis in the Pacific oyster, Crassostrea gigas, by exposing competent larvae to L-DOPA, epinephrine, MK-801 and ifenprodil. Subsequently, we cloned three NMDA receptor subunits CgNR1, CgNR2A and CgNR2B, with sequence analysis suggesting successful assembly of functional NMDA receptor complexes and binding to natural occurring agonists and the channel blocker MK-801. NMDA receptor subunits are expressed in competent larvae, during metamorphosis and in spat, but this expression is neither self-regulated nor regulated by catecholamines. In-situ hybridisation of CgNR1 in competent larvae identified NMDA receptor presence in the apical organ/cerebral ganglia area with a potential sensory function, and in the nervous network of the foot indicating an additional putative muscle regulatory function. Furthermore, phylogenetic analyses identified molluscan-specific gene expansions of key enzymes involved in catecholamine biosynthesis. However, exposure to MK-801 did not alter the expression of selected key enzymes, suggesting that NMDA receptors do not regulate the biosynthesis of catecholamines via gene expression.

Physiology, Development, and Disease Modeling in the Drosophila Excretory System

The insect excretory system contains two organ systems acting in concert: the Malpighian tubules and the hindgut perform essential roles in excretion and ionic and osmotic homeostasis. For over 350 years, these two organs have fascinated biologists as a model of organ structure and function. As part of a recent surge in interest, research on the Malpighian tubules and hindgut of Drosophila have uncovered important paradigms of organ physiology and development. Further, many human disease processes can be modeled in these organs. Here, focusing on discoveries in the past 10 years, we provide an overview of the anatomy and physiology of the Drosophila excretory system. We describe the major developmental events that build these organs during embryogenesis, remodel them during metamorphosis, and repair them following injury. Finally, we highlight the use of the Malpighian tubules and hindgut as accessible models of human disease biology. The Malpighian tubule is a particularly excellent model to study rapid fluid transport, neuroendocrine control of renal function, and modeling of numerous human renal conditions such as kidney stones, while the hindgut provides an outstanding model for processes such as the role of cell chirality in development, nonstem cell-based injury repair, cancer-promoting processes, and communication between the intestine and nervous system.

Epithelial Function in the Drosophila Malpighian Tubule: An In Vivo Renal Model

The insect renal (Malpighian) tubule has long been a model system for the study of fluid secretion and its neurohormonal control, as well as studies on ion transport mechanisms. To extend these studies beyond the boundaries of classical physiology, a molecular genetic approach together with the 'omics technologies is required. To achieve this in any vertebrate transporting epithelium remains a daunting task, as the genetic tools available are still relatively unsophisticated. Drosophila melanogaster, however, is an outstanding model organism for molecular genetics. Here we describe a technique for fluid secretion assays in the D. melanogaster equivalent of the kidney nephron. The development of this first physiological assay for a Drosophila epithelium, allowing combined approaches of integrative physiology and functional genomics, has now provided biologists with an entirely new model system, the Drosophila Malpighian tubule, which is utilized in multiple fields as diverse as kidney disease research and development of new modes of pest insect control.

Octopamine and Tyramine Contribute Separately to the Counter-Regulatory Response to Sugar Deficit in Drosophila

All animals constantly negotiate external with internal demands before and during action selection. Energy homeostasis is a major internal factor biasing action selection. For instance, in addition to physiologically regulating carbohydrate mobilization, starvation-induced sugar shortage also biases action selection toward food-seeking and food consumption behaviors (the counter-regulatory response). Biogenic amines are often involved when such widespread behavioral biases need to be orchestrated. In mammals, norepinephrine (noradrenalin) is involved in the counterregulatory response to starvation-induced drops in glucose levels. The invertebrate homolog of noradrenalin, octopamine (OA) and its precursor tyramine (TA) are neuromodulators operating in many different neuronal and physiological processes. Tyrosine-ß-hydroxylase (tßh) mutants are unable to convert TA into OA. We hypothesized that tßh mutant flies may be aberrant in some or all of the counter-regulatory responses to starvation and that techniques restoring gene function or amine signaling may elucidate potential mechanisms and sites of action. Corroborating our hypothesis, starved mutants show a reduced sugar response and their hemolymph sugar concentration is elevated compared to control flies. When starved, they survive longer. Temporally controlled rescue experiments revealed an action of the OA/TA-system during the sugar response, while spatially controlled rescue experiments suggest actions also outside of the nervous system. Additionally, the analysis of two OA- and four TA-receptor mutants suggests an involvement of both receptor types in the animals' physiological and neuronal response to starvation. These results complement the investigations in Apis mellifera described in our companion paper (Buckemüller et al., 2017).

Identification of multiple functional receptors for tyramine on an insect secretory epithelium

The biogenic amine tyramine (TA) regulates many aspects of invertebrate physiology and development. Although three TA receptor subtypes have been identified (TAR1-3), specific receptors have not been linked to physiological responses in native tissue. In the Malpighian (renal) tubule of Drosophila melanogaster, TA activates a transepithelial chloride conductance, resulting in diuresis and depolarization of the transepithelial potential. In the current work, mutation or RNAi-mediated knockdown in the stellate cells of the tubule of TAR2 (tyrR, CG7431) resulted in a dramatic reduction, but not elimination, of the TA-mediated depolarization. Mutation or knockdown of TAR3 (tyrRII, CG16766) had no effect. However, deletion of both genes, or knockdown of TAR3 on a TAR2 mutant background, eliminated the TA responses. Thus while TAR2 is responsible for the majority of the TA sensitivity of the tubule, TAR3 also contributes to the response. Knockdown or mutation of TAR2 also eliminated the response of tubules to the related amine octopamine (OA), indicating that OA can activate TAR2. This finding contrasts to reports that heterologously expressed TAR2 is highly selective for TA over OA. This is the first report of TA receptor function in a native tissue and indicates unexpected complexity in the physiology of the Malpighian tubule.

Expression of octopaminergic receptor genes in 4 nonneural tissues in female Nicrophorus vespilloides beetles

Octopamine regulates the function of many tissues and physiological processes in invertebrates. The expression of octopamine receptor genes has been examined in multiple tissue types in several different insect orders. However, little work has addressed this issue in Coleoptera. Most studies characterize individual genes in different tissue types, but here we describe the expression of 6 octopamine receptor genes in thoracic musculature, oviducts, Malpighian tubules, and fat body of female Nicrophorus vespilloides beetles to characterize both different genes and different tissues within a single study. We then compare the gene expression profiles found in this beetle to other insects to examine the extent to which expression profiles are conserved across insects. We also examine the relative involvement of octopamine verses octopamine/tyramine receptors based on receptor gene expression in each tissue to help elucidate if tyramine plays a role in the regulation of these tissues. We find a high degree of overlap in the expression profile of the 6 genes examined in the thoracic musculature, a moderate amount for the oviducts, and divergent profiles for Malpighian tubules and fat body. Based on expression difference in receptor subtypes, our results also support the suggestion that tyramine is a biogenic amine with physiological actions separate from octopamine.

Characterization of a tyramine receptor type 2 from hemocytes of rice stem borer, Chilo suppressalis

Calcium acts as a second messenger in many cell types, including insect hemocytes. Intracellular calcium level has a definite role in innate and adaptive immune signaling. Biogenic amines such as octopamine (OA), tyramine (TA), dopamine (DA) and serotonin (5-HT) play various important physiological roles in insects by activating distinct G-protein-coupled receptors (GPCRs) that share a putative seven transmembrane domain structure. OA and 5-HT have been shown that can mediate insect hemocytic immune reactions to infections and invasions. Here, we showed that TA increase hemocyte spreading in the rice stem borer, Chilo suppressalis. Furthermore, we cloned a cDNA encoding a tyramine receptor type 2 from the hemocytes in the C. suppressalis, viz., CsTA2, which shares high sequence similarity to members of the invertebrate tyramine receptor family. The CsTA2 receptor was stably expressed in human embryonic kidney (HEK) 293 cells, and its ligand response has been examined. Receptor activation with TA induced a dose-dependent increase in intracellular Ca(2+) concentration ([Ca(2+)]i) in cells, with an EC50 value of 18.7±5.3 nM, whereas OA, DA, 5-HT and other potential agonists did not have this response. The mRNA is present in various tissues including nerve cord, hemocytes, fat body, midgut, Malpighian tubules, and epidermis in the larval stage. Western blot analysis and immunohistochemistry assay displayed that CsTA2 was detected and presented on hemocytes. We also showed that TA induced Ca(2+) release from the hemocytes of C. suppressalis.

Mechanistic and structural analysis of Drosophila melanogaster arylalkylamine N-acetyltransferases

Arylalkylamine N-acetyltransferase (AANAT) catalyzes the penultimate step in the biosynthesis of melatonin and other N-acetylarylalkylamides from the corresponding arylalkylamine and acetyl-CoA. The N-acetylation of arylalkylamines is a critical step in Drosophila melanogaster for the inactivation of the bioactive amines and the sclerotization of the cuticle. Two AANAT variants (AANATA and AANATB) have been identified in D. melanogaster, in which AANATA differs from AANATB by the truncation of 35 amino acids from the N-terminus. We have expressed and purified both D. melanogaster AANAT variants (AANATA and AANATB) in Escherichia coli and used the purified enzymes to demonstrate that this N-terminal truncation does not affect the activity of the enzyme. Subsequent characterization of the kinetic and chemical mechanism of AANATA identified an ordered sequential mechanism, with acetyl-CoA binding first, followed by tyramine. We used a combination of pH–activity profiling and site-directed mutagenesis to study prospective residues believed to function in AANATA catalysis. These data led to an assignment of Glu-47 as the general base in catalysis with an apparent pK_a of 7.0. Using the data generated for the kinetic mechanism, structure–function relationships, pH–rate profiles, and site-directed mutagenesis, we propose a chemical mechanism for AANATA.

Chloride channels in stellate cells are essential for uniquely high secretion rates in neuropeptide-stimulated Drosophila diuresis

Epithelia frequently segregate transport processes to specific cell types, presumably for improved efficiency and control. The molecular players underlying this functional specialization are of particular interest. In Drosophila, the renal (Malpighian) tubule displays the highest per-cell transport rates known and has two main secretory cell types, principal and stellate. Electrogenic cation transport is known to reside in the principal cells, whereas stellate cells control the anion conductance, but by an as-yet-undefined route. Here, we resolve this issue by showing that a plasma membrane chloride channel, encoded by ClC-a, is exclusively expressed in the stellate cell and is required for Drosophila kinin-mediated induction of diuresis and chloride shunt conductance, evidenced by chloride ion movement through the stellate cells, leading to depolarization of the transepithelial potential. By contrast, ClC-a knockdown had no impact on resting secretion levels. Knockdown of a second CLC gene showing highly abundant expression in adult Malpighian tubules, ClC-c, did not impact depolarization of transepithelial potential after kinin stimulation. Therefore, the diuretic action of kinin in Drosophila can be explained by an increase in ClC-a-mediated chloride conductance, over and above a resting fluid transport level that relies on other (ClC-a-independent) mechanisms or routes. This key segregation of cation and anion transport could explain the extraordinary fluid transport rates displayed by some epithelia.

Inhibition of diuretic stimulation of an insect secretory epithelium by a cGMP-dependent protein kinase

The rate of urine secretion by insect Malpighian tubules (MTs) is regulated by multiple diuretic and antidiuretic hormones, often working either synergistically or antagonistically. In the Drosophila melanogaster MT, only diuretic factors have been reported. Two such agents are the biogenic amine tyramine (TA) and the peptide drosokinin (DK), both of which act on the stellate cells of the tubule to increase transepithelial chloride conductance. In the current study, TA and DK signaling was quantified by microelectrode recording of the transepithelial potential in isolated Drosophila MTs. Treatment of tubules with cGMP caused a significant reduction in the depolarizing responses to both TA and DK, while cAMP had no effect on these responses. To determine whether a specific cGMP-dependent protein kinase (PKG) was mediating this inhibition, PKG expression was knocked down by RNAi in either the principal cells or the stellate cells. Knockdown of Pkg21D in the stellate cells eliminated the modulation of TA and DK signaling. Knockdown of Pkg21D with a second RNAi construct also reduced the modulation of TA signaling. In contrast, knockdown of the expression of foraging or CG4839, which encodes a known and a putative PKG, respectively, had no effect. These data indicate that cGMP, acting through the Pkg21D gene product in the stellate cells, can inhibit signaling by the diuretic agents TA and DK. This represents a novel function for cGMP and PKG in the Drosophila MT and suggests the existence of an antidiuretic hormone in Drosophila.

A biogenic amine and a neuropeptide act identically: tyramine signals through calcium in Drosophila tubule stellate cells

Insect osmoregulation is subject to highly sophisticated endocrine control. In Drosophila, both Drosophila kinin and tyramine act on the Malpighian (renal) tubule stellate cell to activate chloride shunt conductance, and so increase the fluid production rate. Drosophila kinin is known to act through intracellular calcium, but the mode of action of tyramine is not known. Here, we used a transgenically encoded GFP::apoaequorin translational fusion, targeted to either principal or stellate cells under GAL4/UAS control, to demonstrate that tyramine indeed acts to raise calcium in stellate, but not principal cells. Furthermore, the EC(50) tyramine concentration for half-maximal activation of the intracellular calcium signal is the same as that calculated from previously published data on tyramine-induced increase in chloride flux. In addition, tyramine signalling to calcium is markedly reduced in mutants of NorpA (a phospholipase C) and itpr, the inositol trisphosphate receptor gene, which we have previously shown to be necessary for Drosophila kinin signalling. Therefore, tyramine and Drosophila kinin signals converge on phospholipase C, and thence on intracellular calcium; and both act to increase chloride shunt conductance by signalling through itpr. To test this model, we co-applied tyramine and Drosophila kinin, and showed that the calcium signals were neither additive nor synergistic. The two signalling pathways thus represent parallel, independent mechanisms for distinct tissues (nervous and epithelial) to control the same aspect of renal function.

Molecular cloning and pharmacological characterisation of a tyramine receptor from the rice stem borer, Chilo suppressalis (Walker)

BACKGROUND

Tyramine (TA) and octopamine (OA) are considered to be the invertebrate counterparts of the vertebrate adrenergic transmitters. Because these two phenolamines are the only biogenic amines whose physiological significance is presumably restricted to invertebrates, the attention of pharmacologists has been focused on the corresponding receptors, which are believed to represent promising targets for novel insecticides. For example, the formamidine pesticides, such as chlordimeform and amitraz, have been shown to activate OA receptors.

RESULTS

A full-length cDNA (designated CsTyR1) from the rice stem borer, Chilo suppressalis (Walker), has been obtained through homology cloning in combination with rapid amplification of cDNA ends/polymerase chain reaction (RACE-PCR). The mRNA of CsTyR1 is present in various tissues, including hemocytes, fat body, midgut, Malpighian tubules, nerve cord and epidermis, and it is found predominantly in the larval nerve cord with 16-80-fold enrichment compared with other tissues. The authors generated a HEK 293 cell line stably expressing CsTyR1 in order to examine functional and pharmacological properties of this receptor. Both TA and OA at 0.01-100 µM can reduce forskolin-stimulated intracellular cAMP levels in a dose-dependent manner (TA, EC(50) = 369 nM; OA, EC(50) = 978 nM). In agonist assays, activation of CsTyR1 by clonidine and amitraz but not by naphazoline and chlordimeform can also significantly inhibit forskolin-stimulated cAMP production. The inhibitory effect of TA at 10 µM is eliminated by coincubation with yohimbine, phentolamine or chlorpromazine (each 10 µM).

CONCLUSION

This study represents a comprehensive molecular and pharmacological characterisation of a tyramine receptor in the rice stem borer.

The single kinin receptor signals to separate and independent physiological pathways in Malpighian tubules of the yellow fever mosquito

In the past, we have used the kinins of the cockroach Leucophaea (the leucokinins) to evaluate the mechanism of diuretic action of kinin peptides in Malpighian tubules of the yellow fever mosquito Aedes aegypti. Now using the kinins of Aedes (the aedeskinins), we have found that in isolated Aedes Malpighian tubules all three aedeskinins (1 microM) significantly 1) increased the rate of fluid secretion (V(S)), 2) hyperpolarized the basolateral membrane voltage (V(bl)), and 3) decreased the input resistance (R(in)) of principal cells, consistent with the known increase in the Cl(-) conductance of the paracellular pathway in Aedes Malpighian tubules. Aedeskinin-III, studied in further detail, significantly increased V(S) with an EC(50) of 1.5 x 10(-8) M. In parallel, the Na(+) concentration in secreted fluid significantly decreased, and the K(+) concentration significantly increased. The concentration of Cl(-) remained unchanged. While the three aedeskinins triggered effects on V(bl), R(in), and V(S), synthetic kinin analogs, which contain modifications of the COOH-terminal amide pentapeptide core sequence critical for biological activity, displayed variable effects. For example, kinin analog 1578 significantly stimulated V(S) but had no effect on V(bl) and R(in), whereas kinin analog 1708 had no effect on V(S) but significantly affected V(bl) and R(in). These observations suggest separate signaling pathways activated by kinins. One triggers the electrophysiological response, and the other triggers fluid secretion. It remains to be determined whether the two signaling pathways emanate from a single kinin receptor via agonist-directed signaling or from a differentially glycosylated receptor. Occasionally, Malpighian tubules did not exhibit a detectable response to natural and synthetic kinins. Hypothetically, the expression of the kinin receptor may depend on developmental, nutritional, and/or reproductive signals.