Chronobiology
Author: Giovanna Margarita Velázquez Campos | email: gvelazquez.010390@gmail.com
Giovanna Margarita Velázquez Campos 1°2°, Maria Fernanda Ceriani 1°
1° Fundación Instituto Leloir
2° Instituto de Investigaciones Biotecnológicas, UNSAM
The circadian network relies on 150 clock neurons that establish contacts with different types of glia, whose coordinated function is evidenced in the temporal organization of locomotor activity patterns. Within the circadian network, the ventral lateral neurons (LNv) coordinate network activity under light-dark cycles and free-running conditions. Further, data generated in our laboratory suggests that ensheathing glia and astrocytes differentially contact the sLNvs neurons throughout the day. A number of years ago, through a missexpression screen targeting genes involved in neuronal homeostasis, we identified a gene relevant in lipid catabolism, that we named orsai (osi). To begin to understand osi role in the adult brain, we downregulated osi levels exclusively in the adult, and evaluate the impact of Osi knock down on two glia subtypes or the LNvs on several circadian outputs. Surprisingly, deregulating osi levels in ensheathing glia or astrocytes does not affect the period or the temporal organization of the activity rhythms in young flies, although it appears to reduce lifespan later on. However, deregulation of osi in the LNv lenthens the period and in time reduces the consolidation of locomotor activity. Interestingly, the period phenotype observed in young flies is rescued by either the expression of its human ortholog ETFRF1, or the downregulation of the phospholipase Lip3. Together these results suggest that osi could play different roles in adult glia and neurons.