TY  - JOUR
A1  - Schlichting, Matthias
A1  - Rieger, Dirk
A1  - Cusumano, Paola
A1  - Grebler, Rudi
A1  - Costa, Rodolfo
A1  - Mazzotta, Gabriella M.
A1  - Helfrich-Förster, Charlotte
T1  - Cryptochrome interacts with actin and enhances eye-mediated light sensitivity of the circadian clock in Drosophila melanogaster
JF  - Frontiers in Molecular Neuroscience
N2  - Cryptochromes (CRYs) are a class of flavoproteins that sense blue light. In animals, CRYs are expressed in the eyes and in the clock neurons that control sleep/wake cycles and are implied in the generation and/or entrainment of circadian rhythmicity. Moreover, CRYs are sensing magnetic fields in insects as well as in humans. Here, we show that in the fruit fly Drosophila melanogaster CRY plays a light-independent role as “assembling” protein in the rhabdomeres of the compound eyes. CRY interacts with actin and appears to increase light sensitivity of the eyes by keeping the “signalplex” of the phototransduction cascade close to the membrane. By this way, CRY also enhances light-responses of the circadian clock.
KW  - Drosophila melanogaster
KW  - cryptochrome
KW  - F-actin
KW  - phototransduction
KW  - activity rhythms
Y1  - 2018
U6  - http://nbn-resolving.de/urn/resolver.pl?urn:nbn:de:bvb:20-opus-177086
VL  - 11
IS  - 238
ER  - 
TY  - JOUR
A1  - Nagy, Dóra
A1  - Cusumano, Paola
A1  - Andreatta, Gabriele
A1  - Martin Anduaga, Ane
A1  - Hermann-Luibl, Christiane
A1  - Reinhard, Nils
A1  - Gesto, João
A1  - Wegener, Christian
A1  - Mazzotta, Gabriella
A1  - Rosato, Ezio
A1  - Kyriacou, Charalambos P.
A1  - Helfrich-Förster, Charlotte
A1  - Costa, Rodolfo
T1  - Peptidergic signaling from clock neurons regulates reproductive dormancy in Drosophila melanogaster
JF  - PLoS Genetics
N2  - With the approach of winter, many insects switch to an alternative protective developmental program called diapause. Drosophila melanogaster females overwinter as adults by inducing a reproductive arrest that is characterized by inhibition of ovarian development at previtellogenic stages. The insulin producing cells (IPCs) are key regulators of this process, since they produce and release insulin-like peptides that act as diapause-antagonizing hormones. Here we show that in D. melanogaster two neuropeptides, Pigment Dispersing Factor (PDF) and short Neuropeptide F (sNPF) inhibit reproductive arrest, likely through modulation of the IPCs. In particular, genetic manipulations of the PDF-expressing neurons, which include the sNPF-producing small ventral Lateral Neurons (s-LNvs), modulated the levels of reproductive dormancy, suggesting the involvement of both neuropeptides. We expressed a genetically encoded cAMP sensor in the IPCs and challenged brain explants with synthetic PDF and sNPF. Bath applications of both neuropeptides increased cAMP levels in the IPCs, even more so when they were applied together, suggesting a synergistic effect. Bath application of sNPF additionally increased Ca2+ levels in the IPCs. Our results indicate that PDF and sNPF inhibit reproductive dormancy by maintaining the IPCs in an active state.
Y1  - 2019
U6  - http://nbn-resolving.de/urn/resolver.pl?urn:nbn:de:bvb:20-opus-231681
VL  - 15
ER  -