Department of Biological Sciences, Graduate School of Nanoscience and Technology, Korea Advanced Institute of Science and Technology, Yuseong-gu, Daejeon, Korea.
PLoS One. 2011;6(12):e29800. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0029800. Epub 2011 Dec 28.
Perception of temperature is an important brain function for organisms to survive. Evidence suggests that temperature preference behavior (TPB) in Drosophila melanogaster, one of poikilothermal animals, is regulated by cAMP-dependent protein kinase (PKA) signaling in mushroom bodies of the brain. However, downstream targets for the PKA signaling in this behavior have not been identified. From a genome-wide search for the genes regulated by PKA activity in the mushroom bodies, we identified the cyp6a17 Cytochrome P450 gene as a new target for PKA. Our detailed analysis of mutants by genetic, molecular and behavioral assays shows that cyp6a17 is essential for temperature preference behavior. cyp6a17 expression is enriched in the mushroom bodies of the adult brain. Tissue-specific knockdown and rescue experiments demonstrate that cyp6a17 is required in the mushroom bodies for normal temperature preference behavior. This is the first study, to our knowledge, to show PKA-dependent expression of a cytochrome P450 gene in the mushroom bodies and its role as a key factor for temperature preference behavior. Taken together, this study reveals a new PKA-Cytochrome P450 pathway that regulates the temperature preference behavior.
温度感知是生物体生存的一项重要大脑功能。有证据表明，作为变温动物之一的黑腹果蝇的温度偏好行为（TPB）是由大脑蘑菇体中的环腺苷酸依赖性蛋白激酶（PKA）信号调节的。然而，这种行为中 PKA 信号的下游靶标尚未确定。通过对蘑菇体中受 PKA 活性调节的基因进行全基因组搜索，我们鉴定了 cyp6a17 细胞色素 P450 基因是 PKA 的一个新靶标。通过遗传、分子和行为分析对突变体的详细分析表明，cyp6a17 对于温度偏好行为是必不可少的。cyp6a17 在成年大脑的蘑菇体中表达丰富。组织特异性敲低和挽救实验表明，cyp6a17 在蘑菇体中对于正常的温度偏好行为是必需的。据我们所知，这是第一项研究表明 PKA 依赖性细胞色素 P450 基因在蘑菇体中的表达及其作为温度偏好行为关键因素的作用。总之，这项研究揭示了调节温度偏好行为的新的 PKA-细胞色素 P450 途径。
