title: A Drosophila model for alcohol reward.
abstract: The rewarding properties of drugs contribute to the development of abuse and addiction. We developed a new assay for investigating the motivational properties of ethanol in the genetically tractable model Drosophila melanogaster. Flies learned to associate cues with ethanol intoxication and, although transiently aversive, the experience led to a long-lasting attraction for the ethanol-paired cue, implying that intoxication is rewarding. Temporally blocking transmission in dopaminergic neurons revealed that flies require activation of these neurons to express, but not develop, conditioned preference for ethanol-associated cues. Moreover, flies acquired, consolidated and retrieved these rewarding memories using distinct sets of neurons in the mushroom body. Finally, mutations in scabrous, encoding a fibrinogen-related peptide that regulates Notch signaling, disrupted the formation of memories for ethanol reward. Our results thus establish that Drosophila can be useful for understanding the molecular, genetic and neural mechanisms underling the rewarding properties of ethanol.
authors.affiliation: Department of Anatomy, University of California, San Francisco, California, USA. karla.kaun@ucsf.edu
authors.forename: Karla R
authors.initials: KR
authors.lastname: Kaun
authors.forename: Reza
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Azanchi
authors.forename: Zaw
authors.initials: Z
authors.lastname: Maung
authors.forename: Jay
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Hirsh
authors.forename: Ulrike
authors.initials: U
authors.lastname: Heberlein
mesh_terms: D019973:Alcohol-Related Disorders / Q000473:pathology / Q000503:physiopathology*; D000438:Alcohols / Q000009:adverse effects* / Q000378:metabolism; D000704:Analysis of Variance; D000818:Animals; D030801:Animals, Genetically Modified; D001522:Behavior, Animal / Q000187:drug effects; D002851:Chromatography, High Pressure Liquid / Q000379:methods; D003213:Conditioning, Psychological / Q000187:drug effects / Q000502:physiology*; D004195:Disease Models, Animal; D004298:Dopamine / Q000494:pharmacology; D004330:Drosophila; D029721:Drosophila Proteins / Q000235:genetics; D004558:Electric Stimulation / Q000009:adverse effects; D000431:Ethanol / Q000494:pharmacology; D005518:Food Preferences / Q000187:drug effects / Q000523:psychology; D049452:Green Fluorescent Proteins / Q000235:genetics; D008297:Male; D018782:Maze Learning / Q000187:drug effects / Q000502:physiology; D024521:Mushroom Bodies / Q000378:metabolism / Q000473:pathology; D009474:Neurons / Q000187:drug effects / Q000378:metabolism; D009812:Odorants; D012201:Reward; D009435:Synaptic Transmission / Q000187:drug effects / Q000235:genetics; D013997:Time Factors; D014446:Tyrosine 3-Monooxygenase / Q000378:metabolism
chemical_list: D000438:Alcohols; D029721:Drosophila Proteins; D049452:Green Fluorescent Proteins; D000431:Ethanol; D014446:Tyrosine 3-Monooxygenase; D004298:Dopamine