TY  - JOUR
A1  - Chen, Jiangtian
A1  - Reiher, Wencke
A1  - Hermann-Luibl, Christiane
A1  - Sellami, Azza
A1  - Cognigni, Paola
A1  - Kondo, Shu
A1  - Helfrich-Förster, Charlotte
A1  - Veenstra, Jan A.
A1  - Wegener, Christian
T1  - Allatostatin A Signalling in Drosophila Regulates Feeding and Sleep and Is Modulated by PDF
JF  - PLoS Genetics
N2  - Feeding and sleep are fundamental behaviours with significant interconnections and cross-modulations. The circadian system and peptidergic signals are important components of this modulation, but still little is known about the mechanisms and networks by which they interact to regulate feeding and sleep. We show that specific thermogenetic activation of peptidergic Allatostatin A (AstA)-expressing PLP neurons and enteroendocrine cells reduces feeding and promotes sleep in the fruit fly Drosophila. The effects of AstA cell activation are mediated by AstA peptides with receptors homolog to galanin receptors subserving similar and apparently conserved functions in vertebrates. We further identify the PLP neurons as a downstream target of the neuropeptide pigment-dispersing factor (PDF), an output factor of the circadian clock. PLP neurons are contacted by PDF-expressing clock neurons, and express a functional PDF receptor demonstrated by cAMP imaging. Silencing of AstA signalling and continuous input to AstA cells by tethered PDF changes the sleep/activity ratio in opposite directions but does not affect rhythmicity. Taken together, our results suggest that pleiotropic AstA signalling by a distinct neuronal and enteroendocrine AstA cell subset adapts the fly to a digestive energy-saving state which can be modulated by PDF.
KW  - neurons
KW  - neuroimaging
KW  - circadian rhythms
KW  - food consumption
KW  - sleep
KW  - biological locomotion
KW  - Drosophila melanogaster
KW  - signal peptides
Y1  - 2016
U6  - http://nbn-resolving.de/urn/resolver.pl?urn:nbn:de:bvb:20-opus-178170
VL  - 12
IS  - 9
ER  - 
TY  - JOUR
A1  - Selcho, Mareike
A1  - Millán, Carola
A1  - Palacios-Muñoz, Angelina
A1  - Ruf, Franziska
A1  - Ubillo, Lilian
A1  - Chen, Jiangtian
A1  - Bergmann, Gregor
A1  - Ito, Chihiro
A1  - Silva, Valeria
A1  - Wegener, Christian
A1  - Ewer, John
T1  - Central and peripheral clocks are coupled by a neuropeptide pathway in Drosophila
JF  - Nature Communications
N2  - Animal circadian clocks consist of central and peripheral pacemakers, which are coordinated to produce daily rhythms in physiology and behaviour. Despite its importance for optimal performance and health, the mechanism of clock coordination is poorly understood. Here we dissect the pathway through which the circadian clock of Drosophila imposes daily rhythmicity to the pattern of adult emergence. Rhythmicity depends on the coupling between the brain clock and a peripheral clock in the prothoracic gland (PG), which produces the steroid hormone, ecdysone. Time information from the central clock is transmitted via the neuropeptide, sNPF, to non-clock neurons that produce the neuropeptide, PTTH. These secretory neurons then forward time information to the PG clock. We also show that the central clock exerts a dominant role on the peripheral clock. This use of two coupled clocks could serve as a paradigm to understand how daily steroid hormone rhythms are generated in animals.
KW  - circadian clock
KW  - Drosophila
KW  - neuropeptide pathway
KW  - peripheral clocks
KW  - central clocks
Y1  - 2017
U6  - http://nbn-resolving.de/urn/resolver.pl?urn:nbn:de:bvb:20-opus-170831
VL  - 8
IS  - 15563
ER  - 
TY  - JOUR
A1  - Wegener, Christian
A1  - Chen, Jiangtian
T1  - Allatostatin A signalling: progress and new challenges from a paradigmatic pleiotropic invertebrate neuropeptide family
JF  - Frontiers in Physiology
N2  - Neuropeptides have gained broad attraction in insect neuroscience and physiology, as new genetic tools are increasingly uncovering their wide-ranging pleiotropic functions with high cellular resolution. Allatostatin A (AstA) peptides constitute one of the best studied insect neuropeptide families. In insects and other panarthropods, AstA peptides qualify as brain-gut peptides and have regained attention with the discovery of their role in regulating feeding, growth, activity/sleep and learning. AstA receptor homologs are found throughout the protostomia and group with vertebrate somatostatin/galanin/kisspeptin receptors. In this review, we summarise the current knowledge on the evolution and the pleiotropic and cell-specific non-allatostatic functions of AstA. We speculate about the core functions of AstA signalling, and derive open questions and challengesfor future research on AstA and invertebrate neuropeptides in general.
KW  - neuropeptide signalling
KW  - feeding
KW  - intestinal control
KW  - sleep/activity
KW  - kisspeptin/galanin/spexin signalling
KW  - metabolism and growth
KW  - learning
KW  - cardioactive factor
Y1  - 2022
U6  - http://nbn-resolving.de/urn/resolver.pl?urn:nbn:de:bvb:20-opus-278749
SN  - 1664-042X
VL  - 13
ER  -