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Loss of Nf1 Function Causes Stereotypic Grooming Behavior in Drosophila melanogaster
Author(s) -
Velázquez Yoheilly,
Tomchik Seth M.
Publication year - 2016
Publication title -
the faseb journal
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.709
H-Index - 277
eISSN - 1530-6860
pISSN - 0892-6638
DOI - 10.1096/fasebj.30.1_supplement.561.11
Subject(s) - dopamine , dopamine transporter , drosophila melanogaster , neuroscience , biology , phenotype , psychology , dopaminergic , gene , genetics
Neurofibromatosis type 1 (NF1) is a common neurogenetic disorder characterized by the development of tumors in the nervous tissue, and 50–80% of patients suffer moderate to severe impairment in one or more areas of cognitive functioning. NF1 is highly comorbid with attention deficit‐hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), and since ADHD shows dysfunction of dopamine (DA) neurotransmission, this suggests that Nf1 activity patterns may be altered in a dopamine‐dependent manner as well. In previous experiments, we studied diurnal activity of Nf1 and dopamine transporter (DAT) mutants, and noticed intermittent peaks of activity, instead of an elevation of baseline activity. This led us to hypothesize that an increase in grooming behavior, rather than locomotion, may underlie the activity phenotype. To understand how Nf1 regulates activity, and to test for a link to dopamine signaling, we used high‐resolution video tracking to examine head/eye, front legs, hind legs, abdomen, and wing grooming behavior in flies with loss of function mutations in the nf1 and dopamine transporter (DAT; fumin, fmn) genes. We found that loss of Nf1 function increases grooming behavior, specifically, head/eye grooming, while dopamine transporter (DAT) mutations increase locomotion, and reduces head/eye grooming. These results suggest that different molecular pathways underlie each phenotype. For future directions, studying how loss of candidate genes involved in the Nf1 signaling pathway affects behavior and how these genes regulate other known nf1 phenotypes will shed a light to understand the function of the Nf1 protein in the brain. Support or Funding Information National Science Foundation and UPR‐PRISE Program (Grant: NIHR25GM096955) ATotal grooming behavior comparison between control group wCS10 and nf1 mutants.BTotal grooming behavior comparison between control group w1118 and fmn mutants.CFront legs, head/eye, abdomen, wings, and hind legs grooming behavior comparison between control group wCS10 and nf1 mutants from 0–5m period.DFront legs, head/eye, abdomen, wings, and hind legs grooming behavior comparison between control group w1118 and fmn mutants from 0–5m period.EFront legs, head/eye. abdomen, wings, and hind legs grooming behavior comparison between control group wCSIO and nf1 mutants from 15‐20m period.FFront legs, head/eye, abdomen, wings, and hind legs grooming behavior comparison between control group w1118 and fmn mutants from 15–20m period.