Circadian Regulation of the Na[superscript +]/K[superscript +]-Atpase Alpha Subunit in the Visual System Is Mediated by the Pacemaker and by Retina Photoreceptors in Drosophila Melanogaster
posted on 2013-10-16, 08:45authored byMilena Damulewicz, Ezio Rosato, Elzbieta Pyza
We investigated the diurnal oscillation in abundance of the catalytic α subunit of the sodium/potassium pump (ATPα) in the brain of Drosophila melanogaster. This rhythm is bimodal and is particularly robust in the glia cells of the lamina, the first optic neuropil. We observed loss of ATPα cycling in lamina glia in behaviourally arrhythmic per and tim mutants and in flies overexpressing the pro-apoptotic gene hid in the PDF-positive clock neurons. Moreover, the rhythm of ATPα abundance was altered in cry and Pdf mutants, in flies with a weakened clock mechanism in retina photoreceptor cells and in those subject to downregulation of the neuropeptide ITP by RNAi. This complex, rhythmic regulation of the α subunit suggests that the sodium/potassium pump may be a key target of the circadian pacemaker to impose daily control on brain activities, such as rhythmic changes in neuronal plasticity, which are best observed in the visual system.
Funding
The study was supported by NN301 038240 and NN303 814840 grants from the Polish Ministry of Science and High Education to Elzbieta Pyza and by the grant BB/H018093/1 from the BBSRC to Ezio Rosato. The funders had no role in study design, data collection and analysis, decision to publish, or preparation of the manuscript.
History
Citation
PLoS ONE, 2013, 8 (9), e73690
Author affiliation
/Organisation/COLLEGE OF MEDICINE, BIOLOGICAL SCIENCES AND PSYCHOLOGY/School of Biological Sciences/Department of Genetics