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A Go‐like protein in Drosophila melanogaster and its expression in memory mutants.
Author(s) -
Guillén A.,
Jallon J.M.,
Fehrentz J.A.,
Pantaloni C.,
Bockaert J.,
Homburger V.
Publication year - 1990
Publication title -
the embo journal
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 7.484
H-Index - 392
eISSN - 1460-2075
pISSN - 0261-4189
DOI - 10.1002/j.1460-2075.1990.tb08261.x
Subject(s) - biology , drosophila melanogaster , mutant , genetics , drosophila (subgenus) , microbiology and biotechnology , expression (computer science) , drosophilidae , gene , programming language , computer science
G proteins couple receptors for extracellular signals to several intracellular effector systems and play a key role in signalling transduction mechanisms. In particulate preparations of Drosophila melanogaster heads, only one substrate for pertussis toxin at 39‐40 kd was detected. This substrate, which showed only one isoform when analysed by isoelectric focusing, was recognized by immunoblotting and immunoprecipitation techniques using a polyclonal antibody against the alpha subunit of the Go protein purified from bovine brain and can be thus considered as a Go‐like protein. Antibodies obtained against a carboxy‐terminal sequence of the alpha subunit of Go (but not of Gi1 or Gi2) and against an internal sequence shared by all the alpha subunits, were also able to cross‐react with the alpha subunit of this protein in insects. We have also studied the Go‐like protein in several D.melanogaster mutants, primarily in memory and learning mutants. In these mutants there was a sex‐dependent enhancement in pertussis toxin‐catalysed ADP‐ribosylation with respect to the wild‐type. This increase could be attributed in part to an increase in the alpha subunit of the Go‐like protein, as revealed by immunoblotting with anti‐Go alpha polyclonal antibody. This report constitutes the first evidence for the participation of a Go protein in learning and memory.