Paul A. Garrity

An internal thermal sensor controlling temperature preference in Drosophila

Animals from flies to humans are able to distinguish subtle gradations in temperature and show strong temperature preferences. Animals move to environments of optimal temperature and some manipulate the temperature of their surroundings, as humans do using clothing and shelter. Despite the ubiquitous influence of environmental temperature on animal behaviour, the neural circuits and strategies through which animals select a preferred temperature remain largely unknown. Here we identify a small set of warmth-activated anterior cell (AC) neurons located in the Drosophila brain, the function of which is critical for preferred temperature selection. AC neuron activation occurs just above the fly’s preferred temperature and depends on dTrpA1, an ion channel that functions as a molecular sensor of warmth. Flies that selectively express dTrpA1 in the AC neurons select normal temperatures, whereas flies in which dTrpA1 function is reduced or eliminated choose warmer temperatures. This internal warmth-sensing pathway promotes avoidance of slightly elevated temperatures and acts together with a distinct pathway for cold avoidance to set the fly’s preferred temperature. Thus, flies select a preferred temperature by using a thermal sensing pathway tuned to trigger avoidance of temperatures that deviate even slightly from the preferred temperature. This provides a potentially general strategy for robustly selecting a narrow temperature range optimal for survival.

The Eye-Specification Proteins So and Eya Form a Complex and Regulate Multiple Steps in Drosophila Eye Development

Sine oculis (so) and eyes absent (eya) are required for Drosophila eye development and are founding members of the mammalian Six and Eya gene families. These genes have been proposed to act with eyeless (Pax6) to regulate eye development in vertebrates and invertebrates. so encodes a highly diverged homeobox transcription factor and eya encodes a novel nuclear protein. We demonstrate that So and Eya (1) regulate common steps in eye development including cell proliferation, patterning, and neuronal development; (2) synergize in inducing ectopic eyes; and (3) interact in yeast and in vitro through evolutionarily conserved domains. We propose that an So/Eya complex regulates multiple steps in eye development and functions within the context of a network of genes to specify eye tissue identity.

Drosophila Photoreceptor Axon Guidance and Targeting Requires the Dreadlocks SH2/SH3 Adapter Protein

SUMMARY Mutations in the Drosophila gene dreadlocks (dock) disrupt photoreceptor cell (R cell) axon guidance and targeting. Genetic mosaic analysis and cell-type-specific expression of dock transgenes demonstrate dock is required in R cells for proper innervation. Dock protein contains one SH2 and three SH3 domains, implicating it in tyrosine kinase signaling, and is highly related to the human proto-oncogene Nck. Dock expression is detected in R cell growth cones in the target region. We propose Dock transmits signals in the growth cone in response to guidance and targeting cues. These findings provide an important step for dissection of signaling pathways regulating growth cone motility.

PDF Cells Are a GABA-Responsive Wake-Promoting Component of the Drosophila Sleep Circuit

Daily sleep cycles in humans are driven by a complex circuit within which GABAergic sleep-promoting neurons oppose arousal. Drosophila sleep has recently been shown to be controlled by GABA, which acts on unknown cells expressing the Rdl GABAA receptor. We identify here the relevant Rdl-containing cells as PDF-expressing small and large ventral lateral neurons (LNvs) of the circadian clock. LNv activity regulates total sleep as well as the rate of sleep onset; both large and small LNvs are part of the sleep circuit. Flies mutant for pdf or its receptor are hypersomnolent, and PDF acts on the LNvs themselves to control sleep. These features of the Drosophila sleep circuit, GABAergic control of onset and maintenance as well as peptidergic control of arousal, support the idea that features of sleep-circuit architecture as well as the mechanisms governing the behavioral transitions between sleep and wake are conserved between mammals and insects.

Analysis of Drosophila TRPA1 reveals an ancient origin for human chemical nociception

Chemical nociception, the detection of tissue-damaging chemicals, is important for animal survival and causes human pain and inflammation, but its evolutionary origins are largely unknown. Reactive electrophiles are a class of noxious compounds humans find pungent and irritating, such as allyl isothiocyanate (in wasabi) and acrolein (in cigarette smoke). Diverse animals, from insects to humans, find reactive electrophiles aversive, but whether this reflects conservation of an ancient sensory modality has been unclear. Here we identify the molecular basis of reactive electrophile detection in flies. We demonstrate that Drosophila TRPA1 (Transient receptor potential A1), the Drosophila melanogaster orthologue of the human irritant sensor, acts in gustatory chemosensors to inhibit reactive electrophile ingestion. We show that fly and mosquito TRPA1 orthologues are molecular sensors of electrophiles, using a mechanism conserved with vertebrate TRPA1s. Phylogenetic analyses indicate that invertebrate and vertebrate TRPA1s share a common ancestor that possessed critical characteristics required for electrophile detection. These findings support emergence of TRPA1-based electrophile detection in a common bilaterian ancestor, with widespread conservation throughout vertebrate and invertebrate evolution. Such conservation contrasts with the evolutionary divergence of canonical olfactory and gustatory receptors and may relate to electrophile toxicity. We propose that human pain perception relies on an ancient chemical sensor conserved across ∼500 million years of animal evolution.

Temporal Dynamics of Neuronal Activation by Channelrhodopsin-2 and TRPA1 Determine Behavioral Output in Drosophila Larvae

In recent years, a number of tools have become available for remotely activating neural circuits in Drosophila. Despite widespread and growing use, very little work has been done to characterize exactly how these tools affect activity in identified fly neurons. Using the GAL4-UAS system, we expressed blue light-gated Channelrhodopsin-2 (ChR2) and a mutated form of ChR2 (H134R-ChR2) in motor and sensory neurons of the Drosophila third-instar locomotor circuit. Neurons expressing H134R-ChR2 show enhanced responses to blue light pulses and less spike frequency adaptation than neurons expressing ChR2. Although H134R-ChR2 was more effective at manipulating behavior than ChR2, the behavioral consequences of firing rate adaptation were different in sensory and motor neurons. For comparison, we examined the effects of ectopic expression of the warmth-activated cation channel Drosophila TRPA1 (dTRPA1). When dTRPA1 was expressed in larval motor neurons, heat ramps from 21 to 27 degrees C evoked tonic spiking at approximately 25 degrees C that showed little adaptation over many minutes. dTRPA1 activation had stronger and longer-lasting effects on behavior than ChR2 variants. These results suggest that dTRPA1 may be particularly useful for researchers interested in activating fly neural circuits over long time scales. Overall, this work suggests that understanding the cellular effects of these genetic tools and their temporal dynamics is important for the design and interpretation of behavioral experiments.

A Genome-wide Drosophila Screen for Heat Nociception Identifies α2δ3 as an Evolutionarily Conserved Pain Gene

Worldwide, acute, and chronic pain affects 20% of the adult population and represents an enormous financial and emotional burden. Using genome-wide neuronal-specific RNAi knockdown in Drosophila, we report a global screen for an innate behavior and identify hundreds of genes implicated in heat nociception, including the α2δ family calcium channel subunit straightjacket (stj). Mice mutant for the stj ortholog CACNA2D3 (α2δ3) also exhibit impaired behavioral heat pain sensitivity. In addition, in humans, α2δ3 SNP variants associate with reduced sensitivity to acute noxious heat and chronic back pain. Functional imaging in α2δ3 mutant mice revealed impaired transmission of thermal pain-evoked signals from the thalamus to higher-order pain centers. Intriguingly, in α2δ3 mutant mice, thermal pain and tactile stimulation triggered strong cross-activation, or synesthesia, of brain regions involved in vision, olfaction, and hearing.

Retinal Axon Target Selection in Drosophila Is Regulated by a Receptor Protein Tyrosine Phosphatase

Different Drosophila photoreceptors (R cells) connect to neurons in different optic lobe layers. R1-R6 axons project to the lamina; R7 and R8 axons project to separate layers of the medulla. We show a receptor tyrosine phosphatase, PTP69D, is required for lamina target specificity. In Ptp69D mutants, R1-R6 project through the lamina, terminating in the medulla. Genetic mosaics, transgene rescue, and immunolocalization indicate PTP69D functions in R1-R6 growth cones. PTP69D overexpression in R7 and R8 does not respecify their connections, suggesting PTP69D acts in combination with other factors to determine target specificity. Structure-function analysis indicates the extracellular fibronectin type III domains and intracellular phosphatase activity are required for targeting. We propose PTP69D promotes R1-R6 targeting in response to extracellular signals by dephosphorylating substrate(s) in R1-R6 growth cones.

Interleukin-2 transcription is regulated in vivo at the level of coordinated binding of both constitutive and regulated factors.

Interleukin-2 (IL-2) transcription is developmentally restricted to T cells and physiologically dependent on specific stimuli such as antigen recognition. Prior studies have shown that this stringent two-tiered regulation is mediated through a transcriptional promoter/enhancer DNA segment which is composed of diverse recognition elements. Factors binding to some of these elements are present constitutively in many cell types, while others are signal dependent, T cell specific, or both. This raises several questions about the molecular mechanism by which IL-2 expression is regulated. Is the developmental commitment of T cells reflected molecularly by stable interaction between available factors and the IL-2 enhancer prior to signal-dependent induction? At which level, factor binding to DNA or factor activity once bound, are individual regulatory elements within the native enhancer regulated? By what mechanism is developmental and physiological specificity enforced, given the participation of many relatively nonspecific elements? To answer these questions, we have used in vivo footprinting to determine and compare patterns of protein-DNA interactions at the native IL-2 locus in cell environments, including EL4 T-lymphoma cells and 32D clone 5 premast cells, which express differing subsets of IL-2 DNA-binding factors. We also used the immunosuppressant cyclosporin A as a pharmacological agent to further dissect the roles played by cyclosporin A-sensitive factors in the assembly and maintenance of protein-DNA complexes. Occupancy of all site types was observed exclusively in T cells and then only upon excitation of signal transduction pathways. This was true even though partially overlapping subsets of IL-2-binding activities were shown to be present in 32D clone 5 premast cells. This observation was especially striking in 32D cells because, upon signal stimulation, they mobilized a substantial set of IL-2 DNA-binding activities, as measured by in vitro assays using nuclear extracts. We conclude that binding activities of all classes fail to stably occupy their cognate sites in IL-2, except following activation of T cells, and that specificity of IL-2 transcription is enforced at the level of chromosomal occupancy, which appears to be an all-or-nothing phenomenon.

Modulation of TRPA1 thermal sensitivity enables sensory discrimination in Drosophila

Discriminating among sensory stimuli is critical for animal survival. This discrimination is particularly essential when evaluating whether a stimulus is noxious or innocuous. From insects to humans, transient receptor potential (TRP) channels are key transducers of thermal, chemical and other sensory cues. Many TRPs are multimodal receptors that respond to diverse stimuli, but how animals distinguish sensory inputs activating the same TRP is largely unknown. Here we determine how stimuli activating Drosophila TRPA1 are discriminated. Although Drosophila TRPA1 responds to both noxious chemicals and innocuous warming, we find that TRPA1-expressing chemosensory neurons respond to chemicals but not warmth, a specificity conferred by a chemosensory-specific TRPA1 isoform with reduced thermosensitivity compared to the previously described isoform. At the molecular level, this reduction results from a unique region that robustly reduces the channel’s thermosensitivity. Cell-type segregation of TRPA1 activity is critical: when the thermosensory isoform is expressed in chemosensors, flies respond to innocuous warming with regurgitation, a nocifensive response. TRPA1 isoform diversity is conserved in malaria mosquitoes, indicating that similar mechanisms may allow discrimination of host-derived warmth—an attractant—from chemical repellents. These findings indicate that reducing thermosensitivity can be critical for TRP channel functional diversification, facilitating their use in contexts in which thermal sensitivity can be maladaptive.