222B Poster - 01. Cell Stress and cell death
Friday April 08, 2:00 PM - 4:00 PM

Authors:
Michal Zurovec ^1,2; Yu-Hsien Lin ^1,2; Houda Ouns Maaroufi ^1,2; Lucie Kucerova ¹; Lenka Rouhova ^1,2

Affiliations:
1) Biology Centre, Inst Entomology, Ceske Budejovice, Czech Republic; 2) Faculty of Sciences, University of South Bohemia, Ceske Budejovice, Czech Republic

Keywords:
h. other (Adenosine signaling); j. other signaling pathways

Extracellular adenosine (Ado) is an important signaling molecule involved in stress responses. Studies in various model organisms have shown that Ado is involved in "danger recognition" and tissue protection. However, the mechanism of Ado signaling is not well understood. In this study, we observed that Drosophila expressing the mutant huntingtin (Q93-mHTT) protein have reduced extracellular adenosine concentration in hemolymph. Using genetic methods, we altered Ado concentration, suppressed Ado receptor and Ado transporter function, and observed the effects of these changes on Q93-Htt fly viability. We found that overexpression of enzymes of Ado metabolism and suppression of Ado receptor (AdoR) or Ado transporter (ENT) can minimize mHTT-induced mortality. We also identified downstream targets of the AdoR pathway, the modifier of mdg4 (Mod(mdg4)) and heat shock protein 70 (Hsp70), which are able to modulate the formation of mHTT aggregates. Finally, we have shown that reduction of Ado signaling modulates some other responses to stress, including paraquat and heat shock treatments. Our study provides important insights into how Ado regulates stress responses in Drosophila