Browsing by Author "Fuenzalida Uribe, Nicolás Leonardo"

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    Characterization of a presymptomatic stage in a Drosophila Parkinson's disease model: Unveiling dopaminergic compensatory mechanisms
    (2017) Molina-Mateo, Daniela; Fuenzalida Uribe, Nicolás Leonardo; Hidalgo, Sergio; Molina-Fernández, Claudia; Abarca, Jorge; Zárate Canales, Rafaella Victoria; Escandón, Marcela; Figueroa, Reinaldo; Tevy, María Florencia; Campusano Astorga, Jorge Mauricio
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    nAChR-induced octopamine release mediates the effect of nicotine on a startle response in Drosophila melanogaster
    (2013) Fuenzalida Uribe, Nicolás Leonardo; Meza Cárdenas, Rodrigo Alexis; Hoffmann, Hernán A.; Varas Orozco, Rodrigo; Campusano Astorga, Jorge Mauricio
    Biogenic amines (BAs) play a central role in the generation of complex behaviors in vertebrates and invertebrates, including the fly Drosophila melanogaster. The comparative advantages of Drosophila as a genetic model to study the contribution of BAs to behaviors stumble upon the difficulty to access the fly brain to ask relevant physiological questions. For instance, it is not known whether the activation of nicotinic acetylcholine receptors (nAChRs) induces the release of BAs in fly brain, a phenomenon associated to several behaviors in vertebrates. Here, we describe a new preparation to study the efflux of BAs in the adult fly brain by in vitro chronoamperometry. Using this preparation we show that nAChR agonists including nicotine induce a fast, transient, dose-dependent efflux of endogenous BAs, an effect mediated by -bungarotoxin-sensitive nAChRs. By using different genetic tools we demonstrate that the BA whose efflux is induced by nAChR activation is octopamine (Oct). Furthermore, we show that the impairment of a mechanically induced startle response after nicotine exposure is not observed in flies deficient in Oct transmission. Thus, our data show that the efflux of BAs in Drosophila brain is increased by nAChR activation as in vertebrates, and that then AChR-induced Oct release could have implications in a nicotine-induced behavioral response.
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    Octopamine and dopamine differentially modulate the nicotine-induced calcium response in drosophila mushroom body kenyon cells
    (2014) Goles Varela, Nicolás Ignacio; Fuenzalida Uribe, Nicolás Leonardo; Campusano Astorga, Jorge Mauricio
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    Slit neuronal secretion coordinates optic lobe morphogenesis in Drosophila
    (2020) Caipo, L.; González Ramírez, María Constanza; Guzman-Palma, P.; Contreras, E.G.; Palominos, T.; Fuenzalida Uribe, Nicolás Leonardo; Hassan, B.A.; Campusano Astorga, Jorge Mauricio; Sierralta, J.; Oliva Olave, Carlos Andrés
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    Study of the release of endogenous amines in Drosophila brain in vivo in response to stimuli linked to aversive olfactory conditioning
    (2020) Hidalgo Sotelo, Sergio Ignacio; Fuenzalida Uribe, Nicolás Leonardo; Molina Mateo, Daniela Francisca; Escobar Maldonado, Angélica del Pilar; Oliva Olave, Carlos Andrés; España, R. A.; Andrés Coke, María Estela; Campusano Astorga, Jorge Mauricio
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    The innexin 7 gap junction protein contributes to synchronized activity in the Drosophila antennal lobe and regulates olfactory function
    (2025) Fuenzalida Uribe, Nicolás Leonardo; Hidalgo Sotelo, Sergio Ignacio; Silva Bustos, Bryon Arnaldo; Gandhi, Saurin; Vo, David; Zamani, Parham; Holmes, Todd C.; Sayin, Sercan; Grunwald Kadow, Ilona C.; Hadjieconomou, Dafni; O'Dowd, Diane K.; Campusano Astorga, Jorge Mauricio
    In the mammalian olfactory bulb (OB), gap junctions coordinate synchronous activity among mitral and tufted cells to process olfactory information. In insects, gap junctions are also present in the antennal lobe (AL), a structure homologous to the mammalian OB. The invertebrate gap junction protein ShakB contributes to electrical synapses between AL projection neurons (PNs) in Drosophila. Other gap junction proteins, including innexin 7 (Inx7), are also expressed in the Drosophila AL, but little is known about their contribution to intercellular communication during olfactory information processing. In this study, we report spontaneous calcium transients in PNs grown in cell culture that are highly synchronous when these neurons are physically connected. RNAi-mediated knockdown of Inx7 in cultured PNs blocks calcium transient neuronal synchronization. In vivo, downregulation of Inx7 in the AL impairs both vinegar-induced electrophysiological calcium responses and behavioral responses to this appetitive stimulus. These results demonstrate that Inx7-encoded gap junctions functionally coordinate PN activity and modulate olfactory information processing in the adult Drosophila AL.