| Title: | Two Drosophila DEG/ENaC channel subunits have distinct functions in gustatory neurons that activate male courtship |
| Author(s): | Liu T; Starostina E; Vijayan V; Pikielny CW; |
| Address: | "Department of Genetics and Neuroscience Center, Geisel School of Medicine at Dartmouth, Hanover, New Hampshire 03755-1404, USA" |
| DOI: | 10.1523/JNEUROSCI.1376-12.2012 |
| ISSN/ISBN: | 1529-2401 (Electronic) 0270-6474 (Print) 0270-6474 (Linking) |
| Abstract: | "Trimeric sodium channels of the DEG/ENaC family have important roles in neurons, but the specific functions of different subunits present in heteromeric channels are poorly understood. We previously reported that the Drosophila DEG/ENaC subunit Ppk25 is essential in a small subset of gustatory neurons for activation of male courtship behavior, likely through detection of female pheromones. Here we show that, like mutations in ppk25, mutations in another Drosophila DEG/ENaC subunit gene, nope, specifically impair male courtship of females. nope regulatory sequences drive reporter gene expression in gustatory neurons of the labellum wings, and legs, including all gustatory neurons in which ppk25 function is required for male courtship of females. In addition, gustatory-specific knockdown of nope impairs male courtship. Further, the impaired courtship response of nope mutant males to females is rescued by targeted expression of nope in the subset of gustatory neurons in which ppk25 functions. However, nope and ppk25 have nonredundant functions, as targeted expression of ppk25 does not compensate for the lack of nope and vice versa. Moreover, Nope and Ppk25 form specific complexes when coexpressed in cultured cells. Together, these data indicate that the Nope and Ppk25 polypeptides have specific, nonredundant functions in a subset of gustatory neurons required for activation of male courtship in response to females, and suggest the hypothesis that Nope and Ppk25 function as subunits of a heteromeric DEG/ENaC channel required for gustatory detection of female pheromones" |
| Keywords: | "Animals Animals, Genetically Modified Chemoreceptor Cells/*metabolism *Courtship Drosophila Drosophila Proteins/genetics/*metabolism Female Green Fluorescent Proteins/genetics/metabolism Immunoprecipitation Male Mutation/genetics Pheromones/genetics/metab;Neuroscience;" |
| Notes: | "MedlineLiu, Tong Starostina, Elena Vijayan, Vinoy Pikielny, Claudio W eng R01 DC007911/DC/NIDCD NIH HHS/ HHMI/Howard Hughes Medical Institute/ R01DC007911/DC/NIDCD NIH HHS/ Research Support, N.I.H., Extramural Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't 2012/08/24 J Neurosci. 2012 Aug 22; 32(34):11879-89. doi: 10.1523/JNEUROSCI.1376-12.2012" |
