L-glutamate is both the major brain excitatory neurotransmitter and a potent neurotoxin in mammals. Glutamate excitotoxicity is partly responsible for cerebral traumas evoked by ischemia and has been implicated in several neurodegenerative diseases including amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS). In contrast, very little is known about the function or potential toxicity of glutamate in the insect brain. Here, we show that decreasing glutamate buffering capacity is neurotoxic in Drosophila. We found that the only Drosophila high-affinity glutamate transporter, dEAAT1, is selectively addressed to glial extensions that project ubiquitously through the neuropil close to synaptic areas. Inactivation of dEAAT1 by RNA interference led to characteristic behavior deficits that were significantly rescued by expression of the human glutamate transporter hEAAT2 or the administration in food of riluzole, an anti-excitotoxic agent used in the clinic for human ALS patients. Signs of oxidative stress included hypersensitivity to the free radical generator paraquat and rescue by the antioxidant melatonin. Inactivation of dEAAT1 also resulted in shortened lifespan and marked brain neuropil degeneration characterized by widespread microvacuolization and swollen mitochondria. This suggests that the dEAAT1-deficient fly provides a powerful genetic model system for molecular analysis of glutamate-mediated neurodegeneration.

Summary Light has profound behavioral effects on almost all animals, and nocturnal animals show sensitivity to extremely low light levels [1–4]. Crepuscular, i.e., dawn/dusk-active animals such as Drosophila melanogaster are thought to show far less sensitivity to light [5–8]. Here we report that Drosophila respond to extremely low levels of monochromatic blue light. Light levels 3–4 orders of magnitude lower than previously believed impact circadian entrainment and the light-induced stimulation of locomotion known as positive behavioral masking. We use GAL4; UAS- mediated rescue of tyrosine hydroxylase (DTH) mutant (ple) flies to study the roles of dopamine in these processes. We present evidence for two roles of dopamine in circadian behaviors. First, rescue with either a wild type DTH or a DTH mutant lacking neural expression leads to weak circadian rhythmicity, indicating a role for strictly regulated DTH and dopamine in robust circadian rhythmicity. Second, the DTH rescue strain deficient in neural dopamine selectively shows a defect in circadian entrainment to low light, whereas another response to light, positive masking, has normal light sensitivity. These findings imply separable pathways from light input to the behavioral outputs of masking versus circadian entrainment, with only the latter dependent on dopamine.

Huntington's disease (HD) is a late onset heritable neurodegenerative disorder caused by expansion of a polyglutamine (polyQ) sequence in the protein huntingtin (Htt). Transgenic models in mice have suggested that the motor and cognitive deficits associated to this disease are triggered by extended neuronal and possibly glial dysfunction, whereas neuronal death occurs late and selectively. Here, we provide in vivo evidence that expanded polyQ peptides antagonize epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR) signaling in Drosophila glia. We targeted the expression of the polyQ-containing domain of Htt or an extended polyQ peptide alone in a subset of Drosophila glial cells, where the only fly glutamate transporter, dEAAT1, is detected. This resulted in formation of nuclear inclusions, progressive decrease in dEAAT1 transcription and shortened adult lifespan, but no significant glial cell death. We observed that brain expression of dEAAT1 is normally sustained by the EGFR-Ras-extracellular signal-regulated kinase (ERK) signaling pathway, suggesting that polyQ could act by antagonizing this pathway. We found that the presence of polyQ peptides indeed abolished dEAAT1 upregulation by constitutively active EGFR and potently inhibited EGFR-mediated ERK activation in fly glial cells. Long polyQ also limited the effect of activated EGFR on Drosophila eye development. Our results further indicate that the polyQ acts at an upstream step in the pathway, situated between EGFR and ERK activation. This suggests that disruption of EGFR signaling and ensuing glial cell dysfunction could play a direct role in the pathogenesis of HD and other polyQ diseases in humans.

L-glutamate is the major excitatory neurotransmitter in the mammalian brain. Specific proteins, the Na+/K+-dependent high affinity excitatory amino acid transporters (EAATs), are involved in the extracellular clearance and recycling of this amino acid. Type I synapses of the Drosophila neuromuscular junction (NMJ) similarly use L-glutamate as an excitatory transmitter. However, the localization and function of the only high-affinity glutamate reuptake transporter in Drosophila, dEAAT1, at the NMJ was unknown. Using a specific antibody and transgenic strains, we observed that dEAAT1 is present at the adult, but surprisingly not at embryonic and larval NMJ, suggesting a physiological maturation of the junction during metamorphosis. We found that dEAAT1 is not localized in motor neurons but in glial extensions that closely follow motor axons to the adult NMJ. Inactivation of the dEAAT1 gene by RNA interference generated viable adult flies that were able to walk but were flight-defective. Electrophysiological recordings of the thoracic dorso-lateral NMJ were performed in adult dEAAT1-deficient flies. The lack of dEAAT1 prolonged the duration of the individual responses to motor nerve stimulation and this effect was progressively increased during physiological trains of stimulations. Therefore, glutamate reuptake by glial cells is required to ensure normal activity of the Drosophila NMJ, but only in adult flies.

Huntington's disease (HD) is caused by an extended polyglutamine (polyQ) tract in the Huntingtin protein. Neuronal and glial dysfunction precedes the neurodegeneration and appears to be the primary cause for the early symptoms in HD. In recent years, development of Drosophila models of polyQ-related diseases facilitated research of candidate rescuer genes. In most cases, analysis in Drosophila was performed by assessing toxicity on retinal and/or brain neurons. However, none of the potential rescuers were evaluated on glial alterations. Here we used a genetic approach in Drosophila to characterize the phenotypic effects of mutant Huntingtin (mHtt) expressed in neurons or different glia subsets and we established a sensitive assay for evaluating modifiers of glial alterations. We determined the level of cell protection ensured by activation of the AKT and ERK anti-apoptotic kinases in the retina as well as in neurons and glia of the fly brain, compared with the rescuing effects of the HSP70 chaperone. We found that both AKT and HSP70 alleviated mHtt-induced toxicity in the retina. In contrast, their protective effects differed in the brain. HSP70 rescued neurodegeneration, locomotor defects and early lethality of flies expressing mHtt in neurons or glia. AKT failed to prevent brain neuronal death and lethality of flies, but significantly improved their locomotor performance when co-expressed with mHtt in glia. ERK had no beneficial effects in the retina or brain. These results indicate that mHtt activates distinct pathways of toxicity in Drosophila, either sensitive to AKT in retinal photoreceptors and glia, or independent in brain neurons.

Summary: Drosophila tyrosine hydroxylase (DTH) is a key enzyme in dopamine (DA) biosynthesis, which is expressed in neural and hypodermal DA-synthesizing cells. We previously reported that two DTH isoforms are produced in flies through tissue-specific alternative splicing that show distinct regulatory properties. We have now selectively expressed each DTH isoform in vivo in a pale (ple, i.e., DTH-deficient) mutant background. We show that the embryonic lethality of ple can be rescued by expression of the hypodermal, but not the neural, DTH isoform in all DA cells, indicating that the hypoderm-isoform is absolutely required for cuticle biosynthesis and survival in Drosophila. In addition, we report new observations on the consequences of DTH overexpression in the CNS and hypoderm. Our results provide evidence that tissue-specific alternative splicing of the DTH gene is a vital process in Drosophila development. genesis 35:260 -269, 2003.

Drosophila tyrosine hydroxylase (DTH) is a key enzyme in dopamine (DA) biosynthesis, which is expressed in neural and hypodermal DA-synthesizing cells. We previously reported that two DTH isoforms are produced in flies through tissue-specific alternative splicing that show distinct regulatory properties. We have now selectively expressed each DTH isoform in vivo in a pale (ple, i.e., DTH-deficient) mutant background. We show that the embryonic lethality of ple can be rescued by expression of the hypodermal, but not the neural, DTH isoform in all DA cells, indicating that the hypoderm- isoform is absolutely required for cuticle biosynthesis and survival in Drosophila. In addition, we report new observations on the consequences of DTH overexpression in the CNS and hypoderm. Our results provide evidence that tissue-specific alternative splicing of the DTH gene is a vital process in Drosophila development.