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Contreras EG, Palominos T, Glavic Á, Brand AH, Sierralta J, Oliva C. The transcription factor SoxD controls neuronal guidance in the Drosophila visual system. Sci Rep 2018; 8:13332. [PMID: 30190506 PMCID: PMC6127262 DOI: 10.1038/s41598-018-31654-5] [Citation(s) in RCA: 14] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/07/2018] [Accepted: 08/23/2018] [Indexed: 01/21/2023] Open
Abstract
Precise control of neurite guidance during development is essential to ensure proper formation of neuronal networks and correct function of the central nervous system (CNS). How neuronal projections find their targets to generate appropriate synapses is not entirely understood. Although transcription factors are key molecules during neurogenesis, we do not know their entire function during the formation of networks in the CNS. Here, we used the Drosophila melanogaster optic lobe as a model for understanding neurite guidance during development. We assessed the function of Sox102F/SoxD, the unique Drosophila orthologue of the vertebrate SoxD family of transcription factors. SoxD is expressed in immature and mature neurons in the larval and adult lobula plate ganglia (one of the optic lobe neuropils), but is absent from glial cells, neural stem cells and progenitors of the lobula plate. SoxD RNAi knockdown in all neurons results in a reduction of the lobula plate neuropil, without affecting neuronal fate. This morphological defect is associated with an impaired optomotor response of adult flies. Moreover, knocking down SoxD only in T4/T5 neuronal types, which control motion vision, affects proper neurite guidance into the medulla and lobula. Our findings suggest that SoxD regulates neurite guidance, without affecting neuronal fate.
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Affiliation(s)
- Esteban G Contreras
- Department of Neuroscience and Biomedical Neuroscience Institute, Faculty of Medicine, Universidad de Chile, Independencia, 1027, Santiago, Chile.,Center for Genome Regulation, Faculty of Sciences, Universidad de Chile, Las Palmeras, 3425, Nuñoa, Santiago, Chile
| | - Tomás Palominos
- Department of Cellular and Molecular Biology, Faculty of Biological Sciences, Pontificia Universidad Católica de Chile, Av Libertador Bernardo O'Higgins 340, Santiago, Chile
| | - Álvaro Glavic
- Center for Genome Regulation, Faculty of Sciences, Universidad de Chile, Las Palmeras, 3425, Nuñoa, Santiago, Chile
| | - Andrea H Brand
- The Gurdon Institute and Department of Physiology, Development and Neuroscience, University of Cambridge, Tennis Court Road, Cambridge, CB2 1QN, United Kingdom
| | - Jimena Sierralta
- Department of Neuroscience and Biomedical Neuroscience Institute, Faculty of Medicine, Universidad de Chile, Independencia, 1027, Santiago, Chile
| | - Carlos Oliva
- Department of Cellular and Molecular Biology, Faculty of Biological Sciences, Pontificia Universidad Católica de Chile, Av Libertador Bernardo O'Higgins 340, Santiago, Chile.
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Ferguson L, Petty A, Rohrscheib C, Troup M, Kirszenblat L, Eyles DW, van Swinderen B. Transient Dysregulation of Dopamine Signaling in a Developing Drosophila Arousal Circuit Permanently Impairs Behavioral Responsiveness in Adults. Front Psychiatry 2017; 8:22. [PMID: 28243212 PMCID: PMC5304146 DOI: 10.3389/fpsyt.2017.00022] [Citation(s) in RCA: 17] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.4] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/01/2016] [Accepted: 01/26/2017] [Indexed: 11/13/2022] Open
Abstract
The dopamine ontogeny hypothesis for schizophrenia proposes that transient dysregulation of the dopaminergic system during brain development increases the likelihood of this disorder in adulthood. To test this hypothesis in a high-throughput animal model, we have transiently manipulated dopamine signaling in the developing fruit fly Drosophila melanogaster and examined behavioral responsiveness in adult flies. We found that either a transient increase of dopamine neuron activity or a transient decrease of dopamine receptor expression during fly brain development permanently impairs behavioral responsiveness in adults. A screen for impaired responsiveness revealed sleep-promoting neurons in the central brain as likely postsynaptic dopamine targets modulating these behavioral effects. Transient dopamine receptor knockdown during development in a restricted set of ~20 sleep-promoting neurons recapitulated the dopamine ontogeny phenotype, by permanently reducing responsiveness in adult animals. This suggests that disorders involving impaired behavioral responsiveness might result from defective ontogeny of sleep/wake circuits.
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Affiliation(s)
- Lachlan Ferguson
- Queensland Brain Institute, The University of Queensland , Brisbane, QLD , Australia
| | - Alice Petty
- Queensland Brain Institute, The University of Queensland , Brisbane, QLD , Australia
| | - Chelsie Rohrscheib
- Queensland Brain Institute, The University of Queensland , Brisbane, QLD , Australia
| | - Michael Troup
- Queensland Brain Institute, The University of Queensland , Brisbane, QLD , Australia
| | - Leonie Kirszenblat
- Queensland Brain Institute, The University of Queensland , Brisbane, QLD , Australia
| | - Darryl W Eyles
- Queensland Brain Institute, The University of Queensland, Brisbane, QLD, Australia; Queensland Centre for Mental Health Research, Wacol, QLD, Australia
| | - Bruno van Swinderen
- Queensland Brain Institute, The University of Queensland , Brisbane, QLD , Australia
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Bosch DS, van Swinderen B, Millard SS. Dscam2 affects visual perception in Drosophila melanogaster. Front Behav Neurosci 2015; 9:149. [PMID: 26106310 PMCID: PMC4460526 DOI: 10.3389/fnbeh.2015.00149] [Citation(s) in RCA: 4] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.4] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/19/2015] [Accepted: 05/21/2015] [Indexed: 11/22/2022] Open
Abstract
Dscam2, a cell surface protein that mediates cellular repulsion, plays a crucial role in the development of the Drosophila melanogaster visual system. Dscam2 generates boundaries between neighboring modules in the fly optic lobe; in Dscam2 mutants this visual system modularity is compromised. Although developmental wiring defects have been well described in the Dscam2 mutant, behavioral consequences have not been investigated. To address this, we examined the visual behavior of Dscam2 mutant flies. Using a phototaxis assay, we ascertained that these flies are not blind, but have a reduced phototaxic response. Through population-based and single fly optomotor assays, we found that Dscam2 mutant flies can track motion but that their response is opposite to control flies under defined experimental conditions. In a fixation paradigm, which allows tethered flies to control the angular position of a visual stimulus, mutant flies' responses were diametrically opposed to those seen in control flies. These data suggest that modest changes in the modularity of the fly visual system in the Dscam2 mutant can dramatically change the perception of specific visual cues and modify behavior.
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Affiliation(s)
- Danny S Bosch
- School of Biomedical Sciences, The University of Queensland St. Lucia, QLD, Australia
| | - Bruno van Swinderen
- Queensland Brain Institute, The University of Queensland St. Lucia, QLD, Australia
| | - S Sean Millard
- School of Biomedical Sciences, The University of Queensland St. Lucia, QLD, Australia
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Zordan MA, Sandrelli F. Circadian Clock Dysfunction and Psychiatric Disease: Could Fruit Flies have a Say? Front Neurol 2015; 6:80. [PMID: 25941512 PMCID: PMC4403521 DOI: 10.3389/fneur.2015.00080] [Citation(s) in RCA: 10] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.1] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/13/2015] [Accepted: 03/24/2015] [Indexed: 12/15/2022] Open
Abstract
There is evidence of a link between the circadian system and psychiatric diseases. Studies in humans and mammals suggest that environmental and/or genetic disruption of the circadian system leads to an increased liability to psychiatric disease. Disruption of clock genes and/or the clock network might be related to the etiology of these pathologies; also, some genes, known for their circadian clock functions, might be associated to mental illnesses through clock-independent pleiotropy. Here, we examine the features which we believe make Drosophila melanogaster a model apt to study the role of the circadian clock in psychiatric disease. Despite differences in the organization of the clock system, the molecular architecture of the Drosophila and mammalian circadian oscillators are comparable and many components are evolutionarily related. In addition, Drosophila has a rather complex nervous system, which shares much at the cell and neurobiological level with humans, i.e., a tripartite brain, the main neurotransmitter systems, and behavioral traits: circadian behavior, learning and memory, motivation, addiction, social behavior. There is evidence that the Drosophila brain shares some homologies with the vertebrate cerebellum, basal ganglia, and hypothalamus-pituitary-adrenal axis, the dysfunctions of which have been tied to mental illness. We discuss Drosophila in comparison to mammals with reference to the: organization of the brain and neurotransmitter systems; architecture of the circadian clock; clock-controlled behaviors. We sum up current knowledge on behavioral endophenotypes, which are amenable to modeling in flies, such as defects involving sleep, cognition, or social interactions, and discuss the relationship of the circadian system to these traits. Finally, we consider if Drosophila could be a valuable asset to understand the relationship between circadian clock malfunction and psychiatric disease.
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Affiliation(s)
- Mauro Agostino Zordan
- Department of Biology, University of Padova, Padova, Italy
- Cognitive Neuroscience Center, University of Padova, Padova, Italy
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van Alphen B, van Swinderen B. Drosophila strategies to study psychiatric disorders. Brain Res Bull 2013; 92:1-11. [DOI: 10.1016/j.brainresbull.2011.09.007] [Citation(s) in RCA: 53] [Impact Index Per Article: 4.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/05/2011] [Revised: 09/08/2011] [Accepted: 09/09/2011] [Indexed: 01/03/2023]
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Calcagno B, Eyles D, van Alphen B, van Swinderen B. Transient activation of dopaminergic neurons during development modulates visual responsiveness, locomotion and brain activity in a dopamine ontogeny model of schizophrenia. Transl Psychiatry 2013; 3:e206. [PMID: 23299394 PMCID: PMC3567203 DOI: 10.1038/tp.2012.139] [Citation(s) in RCA: 17] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 12/22/2022] Open
Abstract
It has been observed that certain developmental environmental risk factors for schizophrenia when modeled in rodents alter the trajectory of dopaminergic development, leading to persistent behavioural changes in adults. This has recently been articulated as the "dopamine ontogeny hypothesis of schizophrenia". To test one aspect of this hypothesis, namely that transient dopaminergic effects during development modulate attention-like behavior and arousal in adults, we turned to a small-brain model, Drosophila melanogaster. By applying genetic tools allowing transient activation or silencing of dopaminergic neurons in the fly brain, we investigated whether a critical window exists during development when altered dopamine (DA) activity levels could lead to impairments in arousal states in adult animals. We found that increased activity in dopaminergic neurons in later stages of development significantly increased visual responsiveness and locomotion, especially in adult males. This misallocation of visual salience and hyperactivity mimicked the effect of acute methamphetamine feeding to adult flies, suggesting up-regulated DA signaling could result from developmental manipulations. Finally, brain recordings revealed significantly reduced gamma-band activity in adult animals exposed to the transient developmental insult. Together, these data support the idea that transient alterations in DA signaling during development can permanently alter behavior in adults, and that a reductionist model such as Drosophila can be used to investigate potential mechanisms underlying complex cognitive disorders such as schizophrenia.
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Affiliation(s)
- B Calcagno
- Queensland Brain Institute, The University of Queensland, St. Lucia, QLD, Australia
| | - D Eyles
- Queensland Brain Institute, The University of Queensland, St. Lucia, QLD, Australia,Queensland Centre for Mental Health Research, The University of Queensland, Wacol, QLD, Australia
| | - B van Alphen
- Queensland Brain Institute, The University of Queensland, St. Lucia, QLD, Australia
| | - B van Swinderen
- Queensland Brain Institute, The University of Queensland, St. Lucia, QLD, Australia,Queensland Brain Institute, The University of Queensland, Upland Road, St. Lucia, QLD, Australia. E-mail:
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Paulk A, Millard SS, van Swinderen B. Vision in Drosophila: seeing the world through a model's eyes. ANNUAL REVIEW OF ENTOMOLOGY 2012; 58:313-332. [PMID: 23020621 DOI: 10.1146/annurev-ento-120811-153715] [Citation(s) in RCA: 39] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 06/01/2023]
Abstract
The fruit fly, Drosophila melanogaster, has been used for decades as a genetic model for unraveling mechanisms of development and behavior. In order to efficiently assign gene functions to cellular and behavioral processes, early measures were often necessarily simple. Much of what is known of developmental pathways was based on disrupting highly regular structures, such as patterns of cells in the eye. Similarly, reliable visual behaviors such as phototaxis and motion responses provided a solid foundation for dissecting vision. Researchers have recently begun to examine how this model organism responds to more complex or naturalistic stimuli by designing novel paradigms that more closely mimic visual behavior in the wild. Alongside these advances, the development of brain-recording strategies allied with novel genetic tools has brought about a new era of Drosophila vision research where neuronal activity can be related to behavior in the natural world.
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Affiliation(s)
- Angelique Paulk
- Queensland Brain Institute, niversity of Queensland, St. Lucia, Queensland 4072.
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Miller SM, Ngo TT, van Swinderen B. Attentional switching in humans and flies: rivalry in large and miniature brains. Front Hum Neurosci 2012; 5:188. [PMID: 22279432 PMCID: PMC3260559 DOI: 10.3389/fnhum.2011.00188] [Citation(s) in RCA: 24] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/01/2011] [Accepted: 12/23/2011] [Indexed: 01/31/2023] Open
Abstract
Human perception, and consequently behavior, is driven by attention dynamics. In the special case of rivalry, where attention alternates between competing percepts, such dynamics can be measured and their determinants investigated. A recent study in the fruit fly, Drosophila melanogaster, now shows that the origins of attentional rivalry may be quite ancient. Furthermore, individual variation exists in the rate of attentional rivalry in both humans and flies, and in humans this is under substantial genetic influence. In the pathophysiological realm, slowing of rivalry rate is associated with the heritable psychiatric condition, bipolar disorder. Fly rivalry may therefore prove a powerful model to examine genetic and molecular influences on rivalry rate, and may even shed light on human cognitive and behavioral dysfunction.
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Affiliation(s)
- Steven Mark Miller
- Perceptual and Clinical Neuroscience Group, Monash Alfred Psychiatry Research Centre, Central Clinical School, Monash UniversityMelbourne, VIC, Australia
| | - Trung Thanh Ngo
- Perceptual and Clinical Neuroscience Group, Monash Alfred Psychiatry Research Centre, Central Clinical School, Monash UniversityMelbourne, VIC, Australia
| | - Bruno van Swinderen
- Queensland Brain Institute, The University of QueenslandBrisbane, QLD, Australia
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Abstract
As bluntly summarized by a psychologist over a century ago, everyone knows what attention is [James (1890). The Principles of Psychology]. Attention describes our capacity to focus perception on one or a group of related stimuli while filtering out irrelevant stimuli. The ease we have in recognizing this astounding capacity in ourselves is matched by a surprising difficulty in identifying it in others, and this is especially the case for measuring attention in other animals. Identifying and measuring attention-like processes in simple animals such as flies requires, to some extent, even more rigor than asking the same question for our closer animal relatives, such as apes and monkeys. This is because flies have completely different brains than humans do, so to study attention in these creatures one must rely purely on operational or behavioral measures rather than comparative neuroanatomy. There is a long history of using sophisticated behavioral paradigms to study visual responses in Drosophila melanogaster, and these studies have often provided early evidence of attention-like processes in flies. More recently, these fly paradigms have been applied to measuring visual attention directly, and the combination of electrophysiology with these preparations has provided insight into how a fly might pay attention. Together with more efficient methods for measuring some aspects of attention, such as stimulus suppression, these approaches should begin to uncover how visual attention might work in a small brain.
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Affiliation(s)
- Bruno van Swinderen
- Queensland Brain Institute, The University of Queensland, Brisbane, QLD 4072 Australia
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