A team of Academia Sinica researchers yesterday said that they have found the neural mechanism that coordinates fruit flies’ states of thirst and hunger, which they said might help with studies on eating disorders and depression in humans.
The flies’ responses to learned odor cues of food and water are associated with a neurotransmitter called leucokinin, Institute of Molecular Biology assistant research fellow Lin Sue-wei (林書葦) told a news conference in Taipei.
When the flies are dehydrated, leucokinin is released, driving them to search for learned water cues by inhibiting two groups of dopamine-releasing neurons (thirst-DANs), which restrict the flies’ water-seeking behaviors, he said.
Photo: Chien Hui-ju, Taipei Times
The neurotransmitter is also released in starving flies and activates another group of dopamine-releasing neurons linked to hunger cues, he said.
The team observed fly brains under microscopes, using fluorescent proteins to highlight their neurons, Lin said, adding that existing genetic tools for fruit flies have enabled scientists to control each of the flies’ neurons.
The researchers found that other neurotransmitters, such as serotonin, increase the activity of the thirst-DANs and offset the effect of leucokinin on these neurons, so that thirst-DANs continue to restrict their water-seeking behaviors, preventing hungry flies from searching for water instead of food.
Their research showed that the flies’ thirst and hunger drives are coordinated by multiple neurotransmitters, instead of entirely separate ones, a phenomenon that might also occur in other creatures, he said.
Although fruit flies only have 100,000 neurons in their brains, compared with 100 billion neurons in human brains, the team’s findings might help with studies on human diseases, such as depression, anorexia and addictions, and corresponding treatments, Lin said.
Behaviors related to other drives, such as sexual desire or the need to find safety, might share some commonalities with the neural mechanisms associated with hunger and thirst, he added.
The study was published in the journal Nature Neuroscience in October, with Bhagyashree Senapati listed as the lead author.
An Indian doctoral student studying at the institute’s International Graduate Program, Senapati majored in protein biology at the National Institute of Technology, Rourkela in India, before enrolling in the institute in 2015.
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