Glia‐specific expression of neuropeptide receptor Lgr4 regulates development and adult physiology in Drosophila

Abstract

Similar to the human brain, Drosophila glia may well be divided into several subtypes that each carries out specific functions. Glial GPCRs play key roles in crosstalk between neurons and glia. Drosophila Lgr4 (dLgr4) is a human relaxin receptor homolog involved in angiogenesis, cardiovascular regulation, collagen remodeling, and wound healing. A recent study suggests that ilp7 might be the ligand for Lgr4 and regulates escape behavior of Drosophila larvae. Here we demonstrate that Drosophila Lgr4 expression in glial cells, not neurons, is necessary for early development, adult behavior, and lifespan. Reducing the Lgr4 level in glial cells disrupts Drosophila development, while knocking down other LGR family members in glia has no impact. Adult‐specific knockdown of Lgr4 in glia but not neurons reduce locomotion, male reproductive success, and animal longevity. The investigation of how glial expression of Lgr4 contributes to this behavioral alteration will increase our understanding of how insulin signaling via glia selectively modulates neuronal activity and behavior.

The astrocyte-enriched gene deathstar plays a crucial role in the development, locomotion, and lifespan of D. melanogaster

“…To this end, virgin females transgenic for deathstar-RNAi construct were crossed to a set of male GAL4 driver lines, enabling their progenies to express the deathstar-RNAi in different neural cell types of D. melanogaster . We took advantage to use recently developed subtype glial- GAL4 drivers which are feasibly expressed both in larval and adult subtype glial populations to determine which subtypes of glia is responsible for this phenotype [ 16 , 74 ]. The flies with the same genetic background but without deathstar-RNAi expression were used as the control group of this experiment ( Table 2 ).…”

The diverse roles of insulin signaling in insect behavior

“…For example, in D. melanogaster males, tarsal contact with pheromones from male competitors or heterospecific females leads to the release of an ILP from the IPCs, inhibiting the P1 neurons that promote courtship (49). Relaxin-like ILPs and associated downstream mechanisms in male glial cells and abdominal ganglion neurons are also required for mating, sexual receptivity, and mate attraction in D. melanogaster (74)(75)(76). Similarly, in females, IIS in olfactory sensory neurons responsive to male sex pheromones mediates a starvation-induced decrease in sexual receptivity (12,48).…”

Hypersensitivity controlled by mir-9a modulates female receptivity ofDrosophila melanogaster

“…For climbing assay, we modified the conventional RING assay (Gargano et al 2005) and reported in our previous reports (Miao et al 2024;Zhang et al 2024). In brief, 40-50 aged flies were placed in an empty vial and were tapped to the bottom of the tube.…”