Mining the Drosophila gustatory receptor family for new thermosensitive proteins : basic science and tool development
No Thumbnail Available
Authors
Meeting name
Sponsors
Date
Journal Title
Format
Thesis
Subject
Abstract
Extrinsic control of neural activity is a powerful paradigm for understanding how neural circuits operate and regulate behavior. Traditionally, optogenetic tools are used to activate or inhibit neuronal activity with light. However, using visible light as the stimulus has some limitations, such as limited penetration in opaque tissue and overlap of absorption spectra when using multiple probes. A complementary approach is to use temperature as a stimulus, and thermosensitive TRP channels as the thermogenetic probes. These channels also have some limitations, particularly in their temperature sensitivity range. A new and exciting candidate for developing new thermogenetic tools has been recently identified as Gr28bD, a member of the Drosophila gustatory receptor family, normally involved in high-temperature avoidance behavior. My work on Gr28bD started with a characterization of its biophysical properties, particularly temperature sensitivity and ionic selectivity (Chapter 1). Then, to expand the pool of potential candidates for thermogenetic tools, I examined the orthologs of Gr28bD in other species of Drosophila, and I found five other receptors that have distinct thermosensitive properties (Chapter 2). To better understand the mechanism of thermosensitivity, our team successfully modeled the molecular structure of Gr28bD, obtaining preliminary evidence of its homotetrameric organization. To obtain further information on the structural and functional elements of this channel, I tested a series of Gr28bD mutants (Chapter 3). Finally, I participated in writing a book chapter on new computational methods for testing ion channel kinetic mechanisms (Chapter 4).
Table of Contents
DOI
PubMed ID
Degree
Ph. D.