Intestinal CNMa induced by protein deficit affects two distinct pathways in the brain to regulate the preference for protein-rich food
Authors: Boram Kim 1; Seongju Lee 1; Yangkyun Oh 2; Makoto Kanai 2; Won-Jae Lee 3; Greg S. B. Suh 1
Affiliations: 1) Department of Biological Sciences, Korea Advanced Institute of Science and Technology, Daejeon, Republic of Korea; 2) Skirball Institute of Biomolecular Medicine, Department of Cell Biology, New York University Grossman School of Medicine, New York, NY, USA; 3) National Creative Research Initiative Center for Hologenomics and School of Biological Sciences, Seoul National University, Seoul, Republic of Korea
Keywords: k. feeding behavior; b. neuropeptides
The ability to maintain protein homeostasis is crucial for survival and fitness. While it is known that the taste sensory system recognizes the availability of dietary proteins in the environment, it remains unclear how animal detects and responds to the deficit of amino acid levels in the internal milieu. Essential amino acids (EAAs) cannot be synthesized and must be consumed through diet. CNMamide (CNMa) is released from a specific population of enterocytes in the Drosophila gut during EAAs deprivation and causes increased appetite for EAAs (Kim et al., Nature 2021). However, the mechanism by which CNMa influences the brain for the promotion of EAAs consumption remains poorly understood. Here, we show that among many regions of the brain that express CNMa receptors, two distinct regions of the brain that affect protein and carbohydrate appetite are activated or inhibited by CNMa. These findings reveal the interplay between the gut and the brain for the regulation of nutrient-specific appetite.
Kim, B., Kanai, M.I., Oh, Y. et al. Response of the microbiome–gut–brain axis in Drosophila to amino acid deficit. Nature593, 570–574 (2021). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41586-021-03522-2