title: A conserved dopamine-cholecystokinin signaling pathway shapes context-dependent Caenorhabditis elegans behavior.
abstract: An organism's ability to thrive in changing environmental conditions requires the capacity for making flexible behavioral responses. Here we show that, in the nematode Caenorhabditis elegans, foraging responses to changes in food availability require nlp-12, a homolog of the mammalian neuropeptide cholecystokinin (CCK). nlp-12 expression is limited to a single interneuron (DVA) that is postsynaptic to dopaminergic neurons involved in food-sensing, and presynaptic to locomotory control neurons. NLP-12 release from DVA is regulated through the D1-like dopamine receptor DOP-1, and both nlp-12 and dop-1 are required for normal local food searching responses. nlp-12/CCK overexpression recapitulates characteristics of local food searching, and DVA ablation or mutations disrupting muscle acetylcholine receptor function attenuate these effects. Conversely, nlp-12 deletion reverses behavioral and functional changes associated with genetically enhanced muscle acetylcholine receptor activity. Thus, our data suggest that dopamine-mediated sensory information about food availability shapes foraging in a context-dependent manner through peptide modulation of locomotory output.
authors.affiliation: Department of Neurobiology, University of Massachusetts Medical School, Worcester, Massachusetts, United States of America.
authors.forename: Raja
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Bhattacharya
authors.affiliation: Department of Neurobiology, University of Massachusetts Medical School, Worcester, Massachusetts, United States of America.
authors.forename: Denis
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Touroutine
authors.affiliation: Department of Neurobiology, University of Massachusetts Medical School, Worcester, Massachusetts, United States of America.
authors.forename: Belinda
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Barbagallo
authors.affiliation: Department of Neurobiology, University of Massachusetts Medical School, Worcester, Massachusetts, United States of America.
authors.forename: Jason
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Climer
authors.affiliation: Department of Neurobiology, University of Massachusetts Medical School, Worcester, Massachusetts, United States of America.
authors.forename: Christopher M
authors.initials: CM
authors.lastname: Lambert
authors.affiliation: Department of Neurobiology, University of Massachusetts Medical School, Worcester, Massachusetts, United States of America.
authors.forename: Christopher M
authors.initials: CM
authors.lastname: Clark
authors.affiliation: Department of Neurobiology, University of Massachusetts Medical School, Worcester, Massachusetts, United States of America.
authors.forename: Mark J
authors.initials: MJ
authors.lastname: Alkema
authors.affiliation: Department of Neurobiology, University of Massachusetts Medical School, Worcester, Massachusetts, United States of America.
authors.forename: Michael M
authors.initials: MM
authors.lastname: Francis
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D001522:Behavior, Animal; D017173:Caenorhabditis elegans; D029742:Caenorhabditis elegans Proteins / Q000235:genetics* / Q000378:metabolism; D002766:Cholecystokinin / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism*; D004298:Dopamine / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism*; D059290:Dopaminergic Neurons; D009154:Mutation; D011954:Receptors, Dopamine; D017447:Receptors, Dopamine D1 / Q000235:genetics* / Q000378:metabolism; D015398:Signal Transduction / Q000235:genetics; D009435:Synaptic Transmission
chemical_list: D029742:Caenorhabditis elegans Proteins; C488450:Dop-1 protein, C elegans; D011954:Receptors, Dopamine; D017447:Receptors, Dopamine D1; D002766:Cholecystokinin; D004298:Dopamine