Reduction of Malvolio (DMT1) in glial cells alters locomotor behaviour in Drosophila melanogaster.

MARIA SILVINA MARCORA; MICAELA VICENTE BISCARDI; MELINA PETRISSANS; JUANA MARIA PASQUINI; MARIO RAFAEL PAGANI; JORGE CORREALE

Congreso; XXXV Reunion Anual de la Sociedad Argentina de Investigación en Neurociencias; 2020

Iron deficiency in early life affects the development of brain structure, neurotransmitter systems and can lead to hypomyelination. This deficiency is also associated with behavioural and cognitive alterations which are not reversed by postnatal iron intake. Divalent metal transporter 1 (DMT1) participates in intracellular iron export from endosomal compartments as part of the transferrin-bound iron uptake and mediates non-transferrin-bound iron uptake. The only member of the DMT1 family present in Drosophila melanogaster, Malvolio (Mvl) has shown capacity to transport iron. However, its role in glial cell physiology has not been reported yet. We found that Mvl mutant flies displayed reduced locomotor activity, including distance travelled, mobile time and mean velocity, and altered habituation in an open-field arena. Using the UAS/GAL4 binary system to downregulate Mvl in a specific cell type, we observed that Mvl downregulation in neurons did not affect behaviour. However, in glial cell analyses, Mvl downregulation in ensheathing cells, but not in astrocytes, reduced locomotor activity and affected habituation. Immunofluorescence assays revealed no changes in the number of glial cells. These results suggest that Mvl might be relevant for ensheathing cell function, which in turn may modulate locomotion and cognition. These and future findings will help unveil Mvl participation in glial iron homeostasis and study its contribution in normal and pathological conditions.