Organization of Circadian Behavior Relies on Glycinergic Transmission.

FRENKEL, L; MURARO, NI; BELTRÁN GONZÁLEZ, AN; MARCORA, MS; BERNABO, G; HERMANN-LUIBL,C; ROMERO, JI; HELFRICH-FÖRSTER, C; CASTAÑO, EM; MARINO BUSJLE, C; CALVO, DJ; CERIANI, MF

Cell Reports

Cell Press

Lugar: Amsterdam; Año: 2017 vol. 19 p. 72 - 85

2211-1247

The small ventral lateral neurons (sLNvs) constitute acentral circadian pacemaker in the Drosophila brain.They organize daily locomotor activity, partly throughthe release of the neuropeptide pigment-dispersingfactor (PDF), coordinating the action of the remainingclusters required for network synchronization.Despite extensive efforts, the basic principlesunderlying communication among circadian clustersremain obscure. We identified classical neurotrans-mitters released by sLNvs through disruption ofspecific transporters. Adult-specific RNAi-mediateddownregulation of the glycine transporter or impair-ment of glycine synthesis in LNv neurons increasedperiod length by nearly an hour without affectingrhythmicity of locomotor activity. Electrophysiolog-ical recordings showed that glycine reduces spikingfrequency in circadian neurons. Interestingly, down-regulation of glycine receptor subunits in specificsLNv targets impaired rhythmicity, revealing involve-ment of glycine in information processing within thenetwork. These data identify glycinergic inhibitionof specific targets as a cue that contributes to thesynchronization of the circadian network.