Abstract
Although, glial cells have well characterized functions in the developing and mature brain, it is only in the past decade that roles for these cells in behavior and plasticity have been delineated. Glial astrocytes and glia-neuron signaling, for example, are now known to have important modulatory functions in sleep, circadian behavior, memory and plasticity. To better understand mechanisms of glia-neuron signaling in the context of behavior, we have conducted cell-specific, genome-wide expression profiling of adult Drosophila astrocyte-like brain cells and performed RNA interference (RNAi)-based genetic screens to identify glial factors that regulate behavior. Importantly, our studies demonstrate that adult fly astrocyte-like cells and mouse astrocytes have similar molecular signatures; in contrast, fly astrocytes and surface glia—different classes of glial cells—have distinct expression profiles. Glial-specific expression of 653 RNAi constructs targeting 318 genes identified multiple factors associated with altered locomotor activity, circadian rhythmicity and/or responses to mechanical stress (bang sensitivity). Of interest, 1 of the relevant genes encodes a vesicle recycling factor, 4 encode secreted proteins and 3 encode membrane transporters. These results strongly support the idea that glia-neuron communication is vital for adult behavior.
Highlights
In mammals and insects, glial cells physiologically modulate neurons of the mature brain to regulate behavior and plasticity (Parpura and Zorec, 2010; Araque et al, 2014; Haydon and Nedergaard, 2015; Jackson et al, 2015; Zorec et al, 2015; Zwarts et al, 2015)
Our analyses indicate that there are 49 genes with astrocyte-enriched expression encoding membrane transporters or ion channels, including Irk channels, the glutamate and γ-amino butyric acid (GABA) transporter, an SLC5A transporter (CG9657) and GABA Transaminase (GABAT), a mitochondrial protein known to be expressed in glial cells and important for sleep regulation (Chen et al, 2015)
We conclude that there are no significant morphological differences between the Pigment Dispersing Factor (PDF) circuits of CG9657.IR-expressing flies and controls. In these and previous studies, we have described the molecular profile of the Drosophila astrocyte class of glial cells
Summary
Glial cells physiologically modulate neurons of the mature brain to regulate behavior and plasticity (Parpura and Zorec, 2010; Araque et al, 2014; Haydon and Nedergaard, 2015; Jackson et al, 2015; Zorec et al, 2015; Zwarts et al, 2015). Certain classes of adult Drosophila glial cells, including astrocytes, have morphological and molecular similarities to their mammalian counterparts (Awasaki et al, 2008; Doherty et al, 2009; Stork et al, 2012; Freeman, 2015; Omoto et al, 2015). In both Drosophila and mammals, individual astrocytes have processes that cover a relatively large territory, with the potential to regulate the activities of many different neuronal synapses. Drosophila glianeuron interactions are known to be important for development of the fly nervous system as well
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