Biology subjects

Xiao, C.

Publications and source records attributed to Xiao, C..

94 records · Page 6Linked to original sources

bioRxiv2017

AMP-activated protein kinase protects against anoxia in Drosophila melanogaster

During anoxia, proper energy maintenance is essential in order to maintain neural operation. Starvation activates AMP-activated protein kinase (AMPK), an evolutionarily conserved indicator of cellular energy status, in a cascade which modulates ATP production and consumption. We investigated the role of energetic status on anoxia tolerance in Drosophila and discovered that starvation or AMPK activation increases the speed of locomotor recovery from an anoxic coma. Using temporal and spatial genetic targeting we found that AMPK in the fat body contributes to starvation-induced fast locomotor recovery, whereas, under fed conditions, disrupting AMPK in oenocytes prolongs recovery. By evaluating spreading depolarization in the fly brain during anoxia we show that AMPK activation reduces the severity of ionic disruption and prolongs recovery of electrical activity. Further genetic targeting indicates that glial, but not neuronal, AMPK affects locomotor recovery. Together, these findings support a model in which AMPK is neuroprotective in Drosophila.

physiology↗

bioRxiv2017

Persistent one-way walking in a circular arena in Drosophila melanogaster Canton-S strain

We describe persistent one-way walking of Drosophila melanogaster in a circular arena. Wild-type Canton-S adult flies walked in one direction, counter-clockwise or clockwise, for minutes, whereas white-eyed mutant w1118 changed directions frequently. Locomotion in the circular arena could be classified into four components: counter-clockwise walking, clockwise walking, nondirectional walking and pausing. Genetic analysis revealed that while wild-type genetic background was associated with reduced directional change and reduced numbers of one-way (including counterclockwise and clockwise) and nondirectional walks, the white (w+) locus promoted persistent oneway walking by increasing the maximal duration of one-way episodes. The promoting effect of w+ was further supported by the observations that (1) w+ duplicated to the Y chromosome, (2) four genomic copies of mini-white inserted on the autosomes, and (3) pan-neuronal overexpression of the White protein increased the maximal duration of one-way episodes, and that RNAi knockdown of w+ in the neurons decreased the maximal duration of one-way episodes. These results suggested a pleiotropic function of w+ in promoting persistent one-way walking in the circular arena.

animal behavior and cognition↗

bioRxiv2017

Tissue-specific downregulation of EDTP removes polyglutamine protein aggregates and extends lifespan in Drosophila

Drosophila egg-derived tyrosine phosphatase (EDTP, also called JUMPY) is a lipid phosphatase essential in oogenesis and muscle function in the adult stage. Although mammalian JUMPY negatively regulates autophagy, loss-of-JUMPY causes muscle dysfunction and is associated with a rare genetic disorder called centronuclear myopathy. Here we show that tissue-specific downregulation of EDTP in Drosophila non-muscle tissues, particularly glial cells, suppresses the expression of polyglutamine (polyQ) protein aggregates in the same cells and improves survival. Additionally, tissue-specific downregulation of EDTP in glial cells or motoneurons extends lifespan. We demonstrate an approach to fine-tune the expression of a disease-associated gene EDTP for the removal of polyQ protein aggregate and lifespan extension in Drosophila.

genetics↗

bioRxiv2017

Behavioral decoding of Drosophila locomotionin a circular arena

The Drosophila melanogaster white-eyed w1118 line serves as a blank control, allowing genetic recombination of any gene of interest along with a readily recognizable marker. w1118 flies display behavioral susceptibility to environmental stimulation such as light. It is of great importance to characterize the behavioral performance of w1118 flies because this would provide a baseline from which the effect of the gene of interest could be differentiated. Little work has been performed to characterize the walking behavior in adult w1118 flies. Here we show that pulsed light stimulation increased the regularity of walking trajectories of w1118 flies in circular arenas. We statistically modeled the distribution of distances to center and extracted the walking structures of w1118 flies. Pulsed light stimulation redistributed the time proportions for individual walking structures. Specifically, pulsed light stimulation reduced the episodes of crossing over the central region of the arena. An addition of four genomic copies of mini-white, a common marker gene for eye color, mimicked the effect of pulsed light stimulation in reducing crossing in a circular arena. The reducing effect of mini-white was copy-number-dependent. These findings highlight the rhythmic light stimulation-evoked modifications of walking behavior in w1118 flies and an unexpected behavioral consequence of mini-white in transgenic flies carrying w1118 isogenic background.

bioinformatics↗