Coordination between Drosophila Arc1 and a specific population of brain neurons regulates organismal fat.

ABSTRACT: The brain plays a critical yet incompletely understood role in regulating organismal fat. We performed a neuronal silencing screen in Drosophila larvae to identify brain regions required to maintain proper levels of organismal fat. When used to modulate synaptic activity in specific brain regions, the enhancer-trap driver line E347 elevated fat upon neuronal silencing, and decreased fat upon neuronal activation. Unbiased sequencing revealed that Arc1 mRNA levels increase upon E347 activation. We had previously identified Arc1 mutations in a high-fat screen. Here we reveal metabolic changes in Arc1 mutants consistent with a high-fat phenotype and an overall shift toward energy storage. We find that Arc1-expressing cells neighbor E347 neurons, and manipulating E347 synaptic activity alters A

SUBMITTER: Mosher J 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC4583068 | biostudies-literature | 2015 Sep

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature