Dopamine signaling architecture in Caenorhabditis elegans.
OBJECTIVE
In this review, we highlight the identification and analysis of molecules orchestrating dopamine (DA) signaling in the nematode Caenorhabditis elegans, focusing on recent characterizations of DA transporters and receptors.


METHODS
We illustrate the isolation and characterization of molecules important for C. elegans DA synthesis, packaging, reuptake and signaling and examine how mutations in these proteins are being exploited through in vitro and in vivo paradigms to yield novel insights of protein structure, DA signaling pathways and DA-supported behaviors.


RESULTS
DA signaling in the worm, as in man, arises by synaptic and nonsynaptic release from a small number of cells that exert modulatory control over a larger network underlying C. elegans behavior.


CONCLUSIONS
The C. elegans model system offers unique opportunities to elucidate ill-defined pathways that support DA release, inactivation, and signaling in addition to clarifying mechanisms of DA-mediated behavioral plasticity. Further use of the model offers prospects for the identification of novel genes and proteins whose study may yield benefits for DA-supported neural disorders in man.
McDonald
Paul W
PW
Graduate Program in Neuroscience, Department of Pharmacology, Center for Molecular Neuroscience, Vanderbilt University School of Medicine, Nashville, Tennessee 37232-8548, USA.
Jessen
Tammy
T
Field
Julie R
JR
Blakely
Randy D
RD
D000595:Amino Acid Sequence; D000818:Animals; D001522:Behavior, Animal; D017173:Caenorhabditis elegans / Q000033:anatomy & histology / Q000502:physiology*; D004298:Dopamine / Q000096:biosynthesis / Q000378:metabolism / Q000502:physiology*; D050483:Dopamine Plasma Membrane Transport Proteins / Q000502:physiology; D008954:Models, Biological; D008958:Models, Molecular; D008969:Molecular Sequence Data; D011954:Receptors, Dopamine / Q000502:physiology; D015398:Signal Transduction
D050483:Dopamine Plasma Membrane Transport Proteins; D011954:Receptors, Dopamine; D004298:Dopamine