Dopamine Dynamics and Signaling in Drosophila: An Overview of Genes, Drugs and Behavioral Paradigms

Changes in dopamine (DA) signaling have been implicated in a number of human neurologic and psychiatric disorders. Similarly, defects in DA signaling in the fruit fly, Drosophila melanogaster, have also been associated with several behavioral defects. As most genes involved in DA synthesis, transport, secretion, and signaling are conserved between species, Drosophila is a powerful genetic model organism to study the regulation of DA signaling in vivo. In this review, we will provide an overview of the genes and drugs that regulate DA biology in Drosophila. Furthermore, we will discuss the behavioral paradigms that are regulated by DA signaling in flies. By analyzing the genes and neuronal circuits that govern such behaviors using sophisticated genetic, pharmacologic, electrophysiologic, and imaging approaches in Drosophila, we will likely gain a better understanding about how this neuromodulator regulates motor tasks and cognition in humans.

• Publication year

  2014

• Venue

  Experimental animals

• Publication date

  2014-04-26

• Fields of study

  Biology, Medicine

• Identifiers
  DOI 10.1538/expanim.63.107PMID 24770636PMCID 4160991
• External record

  Open on Semantic Scholar

• Source metadata

  Semantic Scholar, PubMed

• No claims are published for this paper.

• No concepts are published for this paper.

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