Scholz Henrike, Mustard Julie A
Department for Animal Physiology, University of Cologne Biocenter, Zülpicher Straße 47b, 50674 Köln, Germany.
Curr Top Behav Neurosci. 2013;13:433-57. doi: 10.1007/7854_2011_128.
For invertebrates to become useful models for understanding the genetic and physiological mechanisms of alcoholism related behaviors and the predisposition towards alcoholism, several general requirements must be fulfilled. The animal should encounter ethanol in its natural habitat, so that the central nervous system of the organism will have evolved mechanisms for responding to ethanol exposure. How the brain adapts to ethanol exposure depends on its access to ethanol, which can be regulated metabolically and/or by physical barriers. Therefore, a model organism should have metabolic enzymes for ethanol degradation similar to those found in humans. The neurons and supporting glial cells of the model organism that regulate behaviors affected by ethanol should share the molecular and physiological pathways found in humans, so that results can be compared. Finally, the use of invertebrate models should offer advantages over traditional model systems and should offer new insights into alcoholism-related behaviors. In this review we will summarize behavioral similarities and identified genes and mechanisms underlying ethanol-induced behaviors in invertebrates. This review mainly focuses on the use of the nematode Caenorhabditis elegans, the honey bee Apis mellifera and the fruit fly Drosophila melanogaster as model systems. We will discuss insights gained from those studies in conjunction with their vertebrate model counterparts and the implications for future research into alcoholism and alcohol-induced behaviors.
为了使无脊椎动物成为理解酒精中毒相关行为的遗传和生理机制以及酒精中毒易感性的有用模型，必须满足几个一般要求。动物应在其自然栖息地接触乙醇，以便生物体的中枢神经系统进化出应对乙醇暴露的机制。大脑如何适应乙醇暴露取决于其接触乙醇的情况，这可以通过代谢和/或物理屏障进行调节。因此，模式生物应具有与人类相似的用于乙醇降解的代谢酶。调节受乙醇影响行为的模式生物的神经元和支持性神经胶质细胞应具有与人类相同的分子和生理途径，以便能够比较结果。最后，使用无脊椎动物模型应比传统模型系统具有优势，并应为酒精中毒相关行为提供新的见解。在这篇综述中，我们将总结无脊椎动物中乙醇诱导行为的行为相似性以及已鉴定的基因和机制。本综述主要关注线虫秀丽隐杆线虫、蜜蜂意大利蜜蜂和果蝇黑腹果蝇作为模式系统的应用。我们将结合它们的脊椎动物模型对应物讨论从这些研究中获得的见解以及对未来酒精中毒和酒精诱导行为研究的意义。
