title: On the pharmacological phenocopying of memory mutations in Drosophila: alkylxanthines accelerate memory decay.
abstract: Theophylline and 3-isobutyl-1-methylxanthine, two cyclic nucleotide phosphodiesterase inhibitors, when fed to wild-type Drosophila adults, cause the rapid decay of learning index after training in a shock-odor learning paradigm. The drugs practically do not affect the olfactory acuity of flies, hence they influence the learning/memory process itself. The time courses of memory decay resemble those of the memory mutants rutabaga and amnesiac and, to a lesser extent, dunce2 and dunceM11. Theophylline further deteriorates the learning performance of dunceM11. Biochemical characterization of the inhibition of the two major phosphodiesterase isoenzymes in Drosophila by theophylline predicts only a slight inhibition of these enzymes in vivo, in accordance with the unchanged level of cAMP in wild-type fly heads during drug feeding. 8-Phenyltheophylline, an adenosine receptor antagonist in mammals, slightly retards memory decay in the wild-type. It is suggested that alkylxanthines induce memory decay in Drosophila by interfering with cAMP dynamics at more than one point of its metabolism.
authors.affiliation: Institute of Enzymology, Hungarian Academy of Sciences, Budapest.
authors.forename: Z
authors.initials: Z
authors.lastname: Asztalos
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Lossos
authors.forename: P
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Friedrich
mesh_terms: D015056:1-Methyl-3-isobutylxanthine / Q000494:pharmacology*; D000818:Animals; D001245:Association Learning / Q000187:drug effects*; D000242:Cyclic AMP / Q000502:physiology; D004331:Drosophila melanogaster / Q000187:drug effects* / Q000235:genetics*; D011939:Mental Recall / Q000187:drug effects*; D009154:Mutation / Q000235:genetics*; D010641:Phenotype; D013806:Theophylline / Q000494:pharmacology*
chemical_list: D013806:Theophylline; D000242:Cyclic AMP; D015056:1-Methyl-3-isobutylxanthine