Department of Biology and Biochemistry, University of Houston, Houston, Texas, USA.
PLoS Genet. 2013;9(1):e1003217. doi: 10.1371/journal.pgen.1003217. Epub 2013 Jan 24.
Soluble circulating proteins play an important role in the regulation of mating behavior in Drosophila melanogaster. However, how these factors signal through the blood-brain barrier (bbb) to interact with the sex-specific brain circuits that control courtship is unknown. Here we show that male identity of the blood-brain barrier is necessary and that male-specific factors in the bbb are physiologically required for normal male courtship behavior. Feminization of the bbb of adult males significantly reduces male courtship. We show that the bbb-specific G-protein coupled receptor moody and bbb-specific Go signaling in adult males are necessary for normal courtship. These data identify sex-specific factors and signaling processes in the bbb as important regulators of male mating behavior.
可溶性循环蛋白在调节黑腹果蝇的交配行为中起着重要作用。然而，这些因素如何通过血脑屏障（bbb）发出信号，与控制求偶的性别特异性大脑回路相互作用尚不清楚。在这里，我们发现bbb 的雄性身份是必要的，bbb 中的雄性特异性因子在生理上是正常雄性求偶行为所必需的。成年雄性bbb 的雌性化显著降低了雄性求偶。我们表明，成年雄性 bbb 特异性 G 蛋白偶联受体 moody 和 bbb 特异性 Go 信号转导对于正常求偶是必要的。这些数据确定了 bbb 中的性别特异性因子和信号转导过程是雄性交配行为的重要调节因子。
