Title
Autoregulatory and paracrine control of synaptic and behavioral plasticity by octopaminergic signaling
GSBS Program
Neuroscience
UMMS Affiliation
Department of Neurobiology
Date
2-1-2011
Document Type
Article
Medical Subject Headings
Animals; Animals, Genetically Modified; Cyclic AMP; Cyclic AMP Response Element-Binding Protein; Drosophila; Homeostasis; Hunger; Motor Activity; Motor Neurons; Neuronal Plasticity; Octopamine; Receptors, Biogenic Amine; Synapses; Synaptic Transmission
Disciplines
Behavioral Neurobiology | Developmental Neuroscience | Life Sciences | Medicine and Health Sciences | Molecular and Cellular Neuroscience | Neuroscience and Neurobiology
Abstract
Adrenergic signaling has important roles in synaptic plasticity and metaplasticity. However, the underlying mechanisms of these functions remain poorly understood. We investigated the role of octopamine, the invertebrate counterpart of adrenaline and noradrenaline, in synaptic and behavioral plasticity in Drosophila. We found that an increase in locomotor speed induced by food deprivation was accompanied by an activity- and octopamine-dependent extension of octopaminergic arbors and that the formation and maintenance of these arbors required electrical activity. Growth of octopaminergic arbors was controlled by a cAMP- and CREB-dependent positive-feedback mechanism that required Octβ2R octopamine autoreceptors. Notably, this autoregulation was necessary for the locomotor response. In addition, octopamine neurons regulated the expansion of excitatory glutamatergic neuromuscular arbors through Octβ2Rs on glutamatergic motor neurons. Our results provide a mechanism for global regulation of excitatory synapses, presumably to maintain synaptic and behavioral plasticity in a dynamic range.
Rights and Permissions
Citation: Citation: Nat Neurosci. 2011 Feb;14(2):190-9. Epub 2010 Dec 26. Link to article on publisher's website