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- Title
Deficiency in RCAT-1 Function Causes Dopamine Metabolism Related Behavioral Disorders in Caenorhabditis elegans.
- Authors
Jeong, Haelim; Park, Jun Young; Lee, Ji-Hyun; Baik, Ja-Hyun; Kim, Chae-Yeon; Cho, Jin-Young; Driscoll, Monica; Paik, Young-Ki
- Abstract
When animals are faced with food depletion, food search-associated locomotion is crucial for their survival. Although food search-associated locomotion is known to be regulated by dopamine, it has yet to investigate the potential molecular mechanisms governing the regulation of genes involved in dopamine metabolism (e.g., cat-1, cat-2) and related behavioral disorders. During the studies of the pheromone ascaroside, a signal of starvation stress in C. elegans, we identified R02D3.7, renamed rcat-1 (regulator of cat genes-1), which had previously been shown to bind to regulatory sequences of both cat-1 and cat-2 genes. It was found that RCAT-1 (R02D3.7) is expressed in dopaminergic neurons and functions as a novel negative transcriptional regulator for cat-1 and cat-2 genes. When a food source becomes depleted, the null mutant, rcat-1(ok1745), exhibited an increased frequency of high-angled turns and intensified area restricted search behavior compared to the wild-type animals. Moreover, rcat-1(ok1745) also showed defects in state-dependent olfactory adaptation and basal slowing response, suggesting that the mutants are deficient in either sensing food or locomotion toward food. However, rcat-1(ok1745) has normal cuticular structures and locomotion genes. The discovery of rcat-1 not only identifies a new subtype of dopamine-related behaviors but also provides a potential therapeutic target in Parkinson's disease.
- Subjects
CAENORHABDITIS elegans; DOPAMINE; PARKINSON'S disease; DOPAMINE receptors; ANIMAL locomotion; METABOLISM; DOPAMINERGIC neurons
- Publication
International Journal of Molecular Sciences, 2022, Vol 23, Issue 4, p2393
- ISSN
1661-6596
- Publication type
Article
- DOI
10.3390/ijms23042393