UMMS Affiliation
Department of Neurobiology; Yang Xiang Lab; Graduate School of Biomedical Sciences, Neuroscience Program
Publication Date
2015-11-17
Document Type
Article
Disciplines
Molecular and Cellular Neuroscience
Abstract
Pain signaling in vertebrates is modulated by neuropeptides like Substance P (SP). To determine whether such modulation is conserved and potentially uncover novel interactions between nociceptive signaling pathways we examined SP/Tachykinin signaling in a Drosophila model of tissue damage-induced nociceptive hypersensitivity. Tissue-specific knockdowns and genetic mutant analyses revealed that both Tachykinin and Tachykinin-like receptor (DTKR99D) are required for damage-induced thermal nociceptive sensitization. Electrophysiological recording showed that DTKR99D is required in nociceptive sensory neurons for temperature-dependent increases in firing frequency upon tissue damage. DTKR overexpression caused both behavioral and electrophysiological thermal nociceptive hypersensitivity. Hedgehog, another key regulator of nociceptive sensitization, was produced by nociceptive sensory neurons following tissue damage. Surprisingly, genetic epistasis analysis revealed that DTKR function was upstream of Hedgehog-dependent sensitization in nociceptive sensory neurons. Our results highlight a conserved role for Tachykinin signaling in regulating nociception and the power of Drosophila for genetic dissection of nociception.
Keywords
Drosophila melanogaster, neuroscience
Rights and Permissions
© 2015, Im et al. This article is distributed under the terms of theCreative Commons Attribution Licensepermitting unrestricted use and redistribution provided that the original author and source are credited.
DOI of Published Version
10.7554/eLife.10735
Source
Elife. 2015 Nov 17;4. pii: e10735. doi: 10.7554/eLife.10735. Link to article on publisher's site
Journal/Book/Conference Title
eLife
Related Resources
PubMed ID
26575288
Repository Citation
Im SH, Takle K, Jo J, Babcock DT, Ma Z, Xiang Y, Galko MJ. (2015). Tachykinin acts upstream of autocrine Hedgehog signaling during nociceptive sensitization in Drosophila. Open Access Publications by UMass Chan Authors. https://doi.org/10.7554/eLife.10735. Retrieved from https://escholarship.umassmed.edu/oapubs/2664
Creative Commons License
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License.
Comments
Co-author Kendra Takle is a student in the Neuroscience Program in the Graduate School of Biomedical Sciences (GSBS) at UMass Medical School.