The role of PDF neurons in setting preferred temperature before dawn in Drosophila

  1. Xin Tang
  2. Sanne Roessingh
  3. Sean E Hayley
  4. Michelle L Chu
  5. Nobuaki K Tanaka
  6. Werner Wolfgang
  7. Seongho Song
  8. Ralf Stanewsky
  9. Fumika N Hamada  Is a corresponding author
  1. Cincinnati Children's Hospital Medical Center, United States
  2. University College London, United Kingdom
  3. Hokkaido University, Japan
  4. University of London, United Kingdom
  5. University of Cincinnati, United States
  6. Westfälische Wilhelms University, Germany

Abstract

Animals have sophisticated homeostatic controls. While mammalian body temperature fluctuates throughout the day, small ectotherms, such as Drosophila, achieve a body temperature rhythm (BTR) through their preference of environmental temperature. Here, we demonstrate that pigment dispersing factor (PDF) neurons play an important role in setting preferred temperature before dawn. We show that small lateral ventral neurons (sLNvs), a subset of PDF neurons, activate the dorsal neurons 2 (DN2s), the main circadian clock cells that regulate temperature preference rhythm (TPR). The number of temporal contacts between sLNvs and DN2s peak before dawn. Our data suggest that the thermosensory Anterior Cells (ACs) likely contact sLNvs via serotonin signaling. Together, the ACs-sLNs-DN2s neural circuit regulates the proper setting of temperature preference before dawn. Given that sLNvs are important for sleep and that BTR and sleep have a close temporal relationship, our data highlight a possible neuronal interaction between body temperature and sleep regulation.

Article and author information

Author details

  1. Xin Tang

    Visual Systems Group, Abrahamson Pediatric Eye Institute, Division of Pediatric Ophthalmology, Cincinnati Children's Hospital Medical Center, Cincinnati, United States
    Competing interests
    The authors declare that no competing interests exist.
  2. Sanne Roessingh

    Department of Cell and Developmental Biology, University College London, London, United Kingdom
    Competing interests
    The authors declare that no competing interests exist.
  3. Sean E Hayley

    Visual Systems Group, Abrahamson Pediatric Eye Institute, Division of Pediatric Ophthalmology, Cincinnati Children's Hospital Medical Center, Cincinnati, United States
    Competing interests
    The authors declare that no competing interests exist.
  4. Michelle L Chu

    Visual Systems Group, Abrahamson Pediatric Eye Institute, Division of Pediatric Ophthalmology, Cincinnati Children's Hospital Medical Center, Cincinnati, United States
    Competing interests
    The authors declare that no competing interests exist.
  5. Nobuaki K Tanaka

    Creative Research Institution, Hokkaido University, Sapporo, Japan
    Competing interests
    The authors declare that no competing interests exist.
  6. Werner Wolfgang

    School of Biological and Chemical Sciences, University of London, London, United Kingdom
    Competing interests
    The authors declare that no competing interests exist.
  7. Seongho Song

    Department of Mathematical Sciences, University of Cincinnati, Cincinnati, United States
    Competing interests
    The authors declare that no competing interests exist.
  8. Ralf Stanewsky

    Institute for Neuro and Behavioral Biology, Westfälische Wilhelms University, Münster, Germany
    Competing interests
    The authors declare that no competing interests exist.
  9. Fumika N Hamada

    Visual Systems Group, Abrahamson Pediatric Eye Institute, Division of Pediatric Ophthalmology, Cincinnati Children's Hospital Medical Center, Cincinnati, United States
    For correspondence
    fumika.hamada@cchmc.org
    Competing interests
    The authors declare that no competing interests exist.
    ORCID icon "This ORCID iD identifies the author of this article:" 0000-0002-5365-0504

Funding

National Institutes of Health (R01 grant GM107582)

  • Fumika N Hamada

March of Dimes Foundation (Basil O'Connor Starter Scholar Research Award)

  • Fumika N Hamada

Japan Science and Technology Agency (PRESTO)

  • Fumika N Hamada

Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Council

  • Ralf Stanewsky

Seventh Framework Programme

  • Ralf Stanewsky

The funders had no role in study design, data collection and interpretation, or the decision to submit the work for publication.

Copyright

© 2017, Tang et al.

This article is distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License permitting unrestricted use and redistribution provided that the original author and source are credited.

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  1. Xin Tang
  2. Sanne Roessingh
  3. Sean E Hayley
  4. Michelle L Chu
  5. Nobuaki K Tanaka
  6. Werner Wolfgang
  7. Seongho Song
  8. Ralf Stanewsky
  9. Fumika N Hamada
(2017)
The role of PDF neurons in setting preferred temperature before dawn in Drosophila
eLife 6:e23206.
https://doi.org/10.7554/eLife.23206

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https://doi.org/10.7554/eLife.23206