FRE CNRS 3498, Ecologie et Dynamique des Systèmes Anthropisés, Université de Picardie, Jules Verne, 80039 Amiens, France.
Institute of Biology, Complutense University of Madrid, Pozuelo de Alarcon, 28223 Madrid, Spain.
J Exp Biol. 2021 Nov 15;224(22). doi: 10.1242/jeb.243184. Epub 2021 Nov 18.
In the moth Agrotis ipsilon, the behavioral response of males to the female-emitted sex pheromone increases throughout adult life and following a prior exposure to sex pheromone, whereas it is temporally inhibited after the onset of mating. This behavioral flexibility is paralleled with changes in neuronal sensitivity to pheromone signal within the primary olfactory centers, the antennal lobes. In the present study, we tested the hypothesis that neuroligins, post-synaptic transmembrane proteins known to act as mediators of neuronal remodeling, are involved in the olfactory modulation in A. ipsilon males. We cloned a full-length cDNA encoding neuroligin 1, which is expressed predominantly in brain and especially in antennal lobes. The level of neuroligin 1 expression in antennal lobes gradually raised from day-2 until day-4 of adult life, as well as at 24 h, 48 h and 72 h following pre-exposure to sex pheromone, and the temporal dynamic of these changes correlated with increased sex pheromone responsiveness. By contrast, there was no significant variation in antennal lobe neuroligin 1 expression during the post-mating refractory period. Taken together, these results highlight that age- and odor experience-related increase in sex pheromone responsiveness is linked to the overexpression of neuroligin 1 in antennal lobes, thus suggesting a potential role played by this post-synaptic cell-adhesion molecule in mediating the plasticity of the central olfactory system in A. ipsilon.
在斜纹夜蛾（Agrotis ipsilon）中，雄性对雌性释放的性信息素的行为反应在成虫期会不断增加，并且在先前接触过性信息素后，它会暂时受到抑制，直到交配开始。这种行为灵活性与初级嗅觉中枢——触角叶内神经元对信息素信号的敏感性变化相平行。在本研究中，我们测试了这样一个假设，即神经连接蛋白（neuroligins）作为神经元重塑的介质，是参与斜纹夜蛾雄蛾嗅觉调节的一种突触后跨膜蛋白。我们克隆了编码神经连接蛋白 1 的全长 cDNA，该蛋白主要在大脑中表达，尤其是在触角叶中表达。触角叶中神经连接蛋白 1 的表达水平从成虫期第 2 天逐渐升高，直到第 4 天，并且在接触性信息素预暴露后的 24 小时、48 小时和 72 小时内也会升高，这些变化的时间动态与性信息素反应性的增加相关。相比之下，在交配后不应期，触角叶中神经连接蛋白 1 的表达没有明显变化。综上所述，这些结果表明，与年龄和气味体验相关的性信息素反应性增加与触角叶中神经连接蛋白 1 的过度表达有关，这表明这种突触后细胞粘附分子在介导斜纹夜蛾中央嗅觉系统的可塑性方面发挥了潜在作用。
