Neuronal regulation of the stress response in C.elegans: Role of the neurotransmitter tyramine

DE ROSA, M.J.; VEUTHEY, T.; AGUIRRE, N.; BLANCO, M.G.; LEMUS, C.; RAYES, D.

Mar del Plata

Congreso; XXX Reunión ANual Sociedad Argentina de Investigación en Neurociencias; 2015

Sociedad Argentina de Investigación en Neurociencias

In nature,  animals are frequently exposed tophysiological and environmental challenges. The individual cellular response tothese unfavorable conditions  should befinely coordinated in multicellular organisms. The neural control of the systemic stress response wasfirst evidenced in the free-living nematode C.elegans. However, the identity of the systemic neural signal that integrate stress perception with theresponse in non-neuronal remains unknown. Our analysis of the C.elegans  neuronal wiring diagram revealed that thecircuits activated upon exposure to stressful situations converge in the only tyraminergic neuron, RIM.Tyramine is the invertebrate counterpart for adrenaline.  Here we found that tyramine-deficient animals are resistant tothermal stress, starvation and pathogen infection. Moreover, these mutant strains exhibit molecular hallmarks of stressedworms, such as autophagy and lypolisis induction, even when they are grownunder favorable conditions. Our results suggest that inhibition of the basal release of tyramine is a neuroendocrinesignal required for a coordinated triggering of the stress response in C. elegans. This study contributes to a betterunderstanding of the neurohormonal signaling that controls the systemicprocesses in multicellular organisms.