title: Caffeine-induced food-avoidance behavior is mediated by neuroendocrine signals in Caenorhabditis elegans.
abstract: High-dose caffeine uptake is a developmental stressor and causes food-avoidance behavior (aversion phenotype) in C. elegans, but its mode of action is largely unknown. In this study, we investigated the molecular basis of the caffeineinduced aversion behavior in C. elegans. We found that aversion phenotype induced by 30 mM caffeine was mediated by JNK/MAPK pathway, serotonergic and dopaminergic neuroendocrine signals. In this process, the dopaminergic signaling appears to be the major pathway because the reduced aversion behavior in cat-2 mutants and mutants of JNK/MAPK pathway genes was significantly recovered by pretreatment with dopamine. RNAi depletion of hsp-16.2, a cytosolic chaperone, and cyp-35A family reduced the aversion phenotype, which was further reduced in cat-2 mutants, suggesting that dopaminergic signal is indeed dominantly required for the caffeine-induced food aversion. Our findings suggest that aversion behavior is a defense mechanism for worms to survive under the high-dose caffeine conditions. [BMB Reports 2017; 50(1): 31-36].
authors.affiliation: Department of Bioscience and Biotechnology, Konkuk University, Seoul 05029, Korea.
authors.forename: Hyemin
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Min
authors.affiliation: Department of Bioscience and Biotechnology, Konkuk University, Seoul 05029, Korea.
authors.forename: Esther
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Youn
authors.affiliation: Department of Bioscience and Biotechnology, Konkuk University, Seoul 05029, Korea.
authors.forename: Ichiro
authors.initials: I
authors.lastname: Kawasaki
authors.affiliation: Department of Bioscience and Biotechnology, Konkuk University, Seoul 05029, Korea.
authors.forename: Yhong-Hee
authors.initials: YH
authors.lastname: Shim
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D001362:Avoidance Learning / Q000187:drug effects*; D017173:Caenorhabditis elegans; D002110:Caffeine / Q000494:pharmacology*; D004298:Dopamine / Q000378:metabolism; D059290:Dopaminergic Neurons / Q000187:drug effects; D005247:Feeding Behavior / Q000187:drug effects*; D006360:Heat-Shock Proteins / Q000378:metabolism; D020935:MAP Kinase Signaling System / Q000187:drug effects*; D009490:Neurosecretory Systems / Q000187:drug effects* / Q000378:metabolism; D059326:Serotonergic Neurons / Q000187:drug effects; D012701:Serotonin / Q000378:metabolism
chemical_list: D006360:Heat-Shock Proteins; D012701:Serotonin; D002110:Caffeine; D004298:Dopamine