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Pantalia M, Lin Z, Tener SJ, Qiao B, Tang G, Ulgherait M, O'Connor R, Delventhal R, Volpi J, Syed S, Itzhak N, Canman JC, Fernández MP, Shirasu-Hiza M. Drosophila mutants lacking the glial neurotransmitter-modifying enzyme Ebony exhibit low neurotransmitter levels and altered behavior. Sci Rep 2023; 13:10411. [PMID: 37369755 PMCID: PMC10300103 DOI: 10.1038/s41598-023-36558-7] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/04/2022] [Accepted: 06/06/2023] [Indexed: 06/29/2023] Open
Abstract
Inhibitors of enzymes that inactivate amine neurotransmitters (dopamine, serotonin), such as catechol-O-methyltransferase (COMT) and monoamine oxidase (MAO), are thought to increase neurotransmitter levels and are widely used to treat Parkinson's disease and psychiatric disorders, yet the role of these enzymes in regulating behavior remains unclear. Here, we investigated the genetic loss of a similar enzyme in the model organism Drosophila melanogaster. Because the enzyme Ebony modifies and inactivates amine neurotransmitters, its loss is assumed to increase neurotransmitter levels, increasing behaviors such as aggression and courtship and decreasing sleep. Indeed, ebony mutants have been described since 1960 as "aggressive mutants," though this behavior has not been quantified. Using automated machine learning-based analyses, we quantitatively confirmed that ebony mutants exhibited increased aggressive behaviors such as boxing but also decreased courtship behaviors and increased sleep. Through tissue-specific knockdown, we found that ebony's role in these behaviors was specific to glia. Unexpectedly, direct measurement of amine neurotransmitters in ebony brains revealed that their levels were not increased but reduced. Thus, increased aggression is the anomalous behavior for this neurotransmitter profile. We further found that ebony mutants exhibited increased aggression only when fighting each other, not when fighting wild-type controls. Moreover, fights between ebony mutants were less likely to end with a clear winner than fights between controls or fights between ebony mutants and controls. In ebony vs. control fights, ebony mutants were more likely to win. Together, these results suggest that ebony mutants exhibit prolonged aggressive behavior only in a specific context, with an equally dominant opponent.
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Affiliation(s)
- Meghan Pantalia
- Department of Genetics and Development, Columbia University Irving Medical Center, New York, NY, 10032, USA
| | - Zhi Lin
- Department of Genetics and Development, Columbia University Irving Medical Center, New York, NY, 10032, USA
| | - Samantha J Tener
- Department of Genetics and Development, Columbia University Irving Medical Center, New York, NY, 10032, USA
| | - Bing Qiao
- Department of Physics, University of Miami, Coral Gables, FL, 33146, USA
| | - Grace Tang
- Department of Neuroscience and Behavior, Barnard College, New York, NY, 10027, USA
| | - Matthew Ulgherait
- Department of Genetics and Development, Columbia University Irving Medical Center, New York, NY, 10032, USA
| | - Reed O'Connor
- Department of Genetics and Development, Columbia University Irving Medical Center, New York, NY, 10032, USA
| | | | - Julia Volpi
- Department of Genetics and Development, Columbia University Irving Medical Center, New York, NY, 10032, USA
| | - Sheyum Syed
- Department of Physics, University of Miami, Coral Gables, FL, 33146, USA
| | - Nissim Itzhak
- Division of Human Genetics and Metabolic Disease, Children's Hospital of Philadelphia, Philadelphia, PA, 19104, USA
- Department of Pediatrics, Biochemistry and Biophysics, Perelman School of Medicine, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, PA, 19104, USA
| | - Julie C Canman
- Department of Pathology and Cell Biology, Columbia University Irving Medical Center, New York, NY, 10032, USA
| | - María Paz Fernández
- Department of Neuroscience and Behavior, Barnard College, New York, NY, 10027, USA
| | - Mimi Shirasu-Hiza
- Department of Genetics and Development, Columbia University Irving Medical Center, New York, NY, 10032, USA.
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Schiller L, Donix M, Jähkel M, Oehler J. Serotonin 1A and 2A receptor densities, neurochemical and behavioural characteristics in two closely related mice strains after long-term isolation. Prog Neuropsychopharmacol Biol Psychiatry 2006; 30:492-503. [PMID: 16412547 DOI: 10.1016/j.pnpbp.2005.11.008] [Citation(s) in RCA: 27] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Accepted: 11/23/2005] [Indexed: 11/18/2022]
Abstract
Knowledge about individual differences in behavioural traits and their neurostructural and neurochemical correlates should improve therapeutic approaches of corresponding psychopathology. The presented investigations are aimed to reveal interrelationships between central nervous serotonergic [5-HT] receptor densities and neurochemical as well as behavioural traits in two mice strains. Male AB-Halle [ABH] and AB-Gatersleben [ABG] mice differing in aggression were investigated after 6 weeks of isolation housing. 5-HT1A and 5-HT2A receptors were analysed in different brain regions by in vitro autoradiography. HPLC determinations of aminergic transmission in the cortex, hippocampus, striatum as well as in the raphe-region and radioimmunoassay determination of serum corticosterone were done before (basal condition) and after behavioural tests (challenge condition). Receptor autoradiography revealed higher 5-HT1A receptor densities, especially in limbic regions, and lower 5-HT2A receptor densities in the basal ganglia of ABH mice. Furthermore, ABH mice characterized as behaviourally more active in the open field and plus maze as well as more reactive and aggressive during the social interaction test showed lower basal 5-hydroxyindolacetic acid [5-HIAA] concentrations in the hippocampus, cortex and raphe-region as well as a different activation pattern in serotonergic, dopaminergic and noradrenergic brain systems after challenge in comparison to ABG mice. Additionally lower corticosterone concentrations were found in ABH mice. Lower basal serotonergic and striatal dopaminergic, but higher basal cortical dopaminergic metabolism in contrast to enhanced challenge-induced central nervous serotonergic and cortical dopaminergic reactivities are discussed to be crucial for an enhanced reactive behavioural trait, which could secondarily result in aggression-related behaviours, where higher 5-HT1A receptor and lower 5-HT2A receptor densities may be essential.
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Affiliation(s)
- Lydia Schiller
- AG Neurobiologie, Klinik für Psychiatrie, Universitätsklinikum der TU Dresden, Fetscherstrasse 74, 01307 Dresden, Germany.
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Ricci LA, Grimes JM, Melloni RH. Serotonin type 3 receptors modulate the aggression-stimulating effects of adolescent cocaine exposure in Syrian hamsters (Mesocricetus auratus). Behav Neurosci 2005; 118:1097-110. [PMID: 15506892 DOI: 10.1037/0735-7044.118.5.1097] [Citation(s) in RCA: 44] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/08/2022]
Abstract
Repeated cocaine (0.5 mg/kg) exposure throughout adolescence stimulates offensive aggression in hamsters. These studies examined whether the cocaine-induced aggressive response was regulated by serotonin Type 3 (5-HT(3)) receptor activity and correlated with altered 5-HT(3) receptor expression. Cocaine-treated Syrian hamsters (Mesocricetus auratus) were tested for aggression after the administration of either the 5-HT(3) antagonist 3-tropanylindole-3-carboxylate methiodide (tropisetron; 0.01-1.20 mg/kg) or the 5-HT(3) agonist l-(m-chlorophenyl)-biguanide hydrochloride (mCPBG; 5.0-15.0 mg/kg), alone or in combination. Tropisetron alone dose dependently reduced cocaine-induced aggression, with a significant reduction at 0.3 mg/kg, whereas mCPBG was ineffective. mCPBG administered prior to tropisetron required a higher dose (1.2 mg/kg) of antagonist to block aggression, indicating a selective 5-HT(3) effect. Cocaine-treated hamsters showed altered 5-HT-sub-3 immunoreactivity in several brain areas implicated in aggression control. These data support a role for 5-HT(3) receptors in adolescent cocaine-induced aggression.
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Affiliation(s)
- Lesley A Ricci
- Behavioral Neuroscience Program, Department of Psychology, Northeastern University, 360 Huntington Avenue, Boston, MA 02115, USA
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