Ruppert, Manuela Barbara (2013). Dissecting Tbh and Hangover function in ethanol tolerance in Drosophila melanogaster. PhD thesis, Universität zu Köln.
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Abstract
Development of ethanol tolerance is one behavior that is strongly associated with alcohol addiction in humans. Drosophila melanogaster has been established as a model to study the mechanistic bases of ethanol tolerance. Previously it was determined that at least two different mechanisms contribute to tolerance (Scholz et al., 2005). One is acting at the level of a neuronal circuit to modulate brain function in response to ethanol and is mediated by octopamine (OA). OA is implicated in regulating organismal stress responses. The other one acting at cellular level is Hangover (Hang) dependent with Hang regulating cellular stress response likely to mediate neuroprotective mechanisms and to protect the CNS from ethanol-induced damage. In this thesis the two mechanisms were further investigated. The key enzyme in OA synthesis is the tyramine-b-hydroxylase (Tbh) encoded by the Tbh gene. To get a better understanding of the molecular nature of known Tbh mutants the molecular organization of Tbh was investigated by PCR studies and Northern Blot analysis. At least eight transcripts were identified. In addition, three different antibody sera against Tbh were analyzed. Two of the antisera (Zhou et al., 2008; Cibik, 2007) were confirmed to be Tbh specific. Using these antibody sera at least five Tbh isoforms were revealed. Tbh specificity of the third Tbh antiserum (Hampel, 2004) could not be confirmed completely but two additional putative Tbh isoforms were uncovered. Expression of four of the five identified Tbh isoforms was altered in TbhnM18 mutants. However expression was still detectable. This indicates the mutant is not a null allele for all Tbh isoforms. Expression studies in larval CNS in combination with expression studies using head and body fractions in Western Blot analysis suggest that the identified protein isoforms are expressed in different sets of neurons and in different tissues and localized differently in the cells. To generate a complete loss of function of the Tbh gene, the new TbhR3-XP-del mutant was generated by mutagenesis using FLP recombination. Tbh protein analysis revealed that the TbhR3-XP-del mutant is also not a null allele for all Tbh isoforms. However, phenotypic analysis of the mutants further suggests that the altered isoforms (58kDa or/and 74kDa) specifically have a function in ethanol tolerance development. Further, using a heat inducible Tbh transgene it was shown that Tbh function most likely is required in the adult fly for tolerance development. Hang is supposed to interact with RNA/DNA with dunce (dnc) being a potential target of Hang (Scholz and Klebes, unpublished data). dncD143 and hangAE10 mutants share the same impairment in ethanol tolerance and in heat-ethanol cross tolerance (Scholz et al., 2005; Franz, 2008). Here, it was detected that in the dncD143 mutant dnc transcripts dncRA and dncRL are reduced and hang expression is increased. It could be shown that specifically dncRA is mediating ethanol tolerance. In contrast, in the hangAE10 mutant the dnc transcripts dncRB and dncRG/RN are reduced. In the dnc1 mutant dncRB expression and ethanol tolerance is also reduced. Therefore a role for dncRB in ethanol tolerance is suggested. It is assumed that Hang is negatively regulated by DncPA and Hang regulates dncRB expression. The results further suggest that there are two separate cAMP signaling pathways in which DncPA and DncPB operate to mediate normal ethanol tolerance. In the DncPA dependent pathway Hang might be negatively regulated by DncPA. This pathway is mediated only in a small set of neurons, in the PAM cluster of the mushroom body and in the F1 neurons of the fanshaped body. Interestingly, the same set of F1 neurons has been implicated in Homer dependent ethanol tolerance suggesting a common function for the neurons and/or putative interaction of Homer/dnc/ Hang. In the second Dnc dependent pathway specifically DncPB might be required in a Hang dependent manner. Additional experiments show that Hang does not operate as a transcription factor for DncPB isoforms indicating that this regulation is not on DNA but probably on RNA level. The DncPA dependent pathway is disrupted in the dncD143 mutant whereas in hangAE10 mutants the other pathway is disrupted. In the dnc1 mutant most likely both Dnc dependent pathways regulating ethanol tolerance development are disrupted. This provides good tools to further investigate the two separate Dnc dependent pathways. Taken together, Tbh isoforms and their relationship to the cellular stressor ethanol need to be further characterized to identify the ones required for ethanol tolerance. Furthermore, Hang might be activated by DncPA and dncRB expression might be regulated by Hang in two separate pathways. This means that a third pathway regulating ethanol tolerance was found clarifying the high complexity and diversity underlying ethanol tolerance development.
Item Type: | Thesis (PhD thesis) | ||||||||||||
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URN: | urn:nbn:de:hbz:38-56158 | ||||||||||||
Date: | 15 October 2013 | ||||||||||||
Language: | English | ||||||||||||
Faculty: | Faculty of Mathematics and Natural Sciences | ||||||||||||
Divisions: | Faculty of Mathematics and Natural Sciences > Department of Biology > Zoologisches Institut | ||||||||||||
Subjects: | Natural sciences and mathematics Life sciences |
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Date of oral exam: | 25 November 2013 | ||||||||||||
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Refereed: | Yes | ||||||||||||
URI: | http://kups.ub.uni-koeln.de/id/eprint/5615 |
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