A Drosophila model for developmental nicotine exposure

Despite the known health risks of tobacco smoking, many people including pregnant women continue smoking. The effects of developmental nicotine exposure are known, but the underlying mechanisms are not well understood. Drosophila melanogaster is a model organism that can be used for uncovering genetic and molecular mechanisms for drugs of abuse. Here I show that Drosophila can be a model to elucidate the mechanisms for nicotine’s effects on a developing organism. Drosophila reared on nicotine food display developmental and behavioral effects similar to those in mammals including decreased survival and weight, increased developmental time, and decreased sensitivity to acute nicotine and ethanol. The Drosophila nicotinic acetylcholine receptor subunit alpha 7 (Dα7) mediates some of these effects. A novel role for Dα7 on ethanol sedation in Drosophila is also shown. Future research taking advantage of the genetic and molecular tools for Drosophila will allow additional discovery of the mec...

尽管吸烟对健康的危害已广为认知，但仍有大量人群（包括孕妇）持续吸烟。发育期尼古丁暴露所带来的影响虽已被探明，但其背后的核心机制仍未得到充分阐释。黑腹果蝇（*Drosophila melanogaster*）是经典模式生物，可用于解析成瘾性药物的遗传与分子机制。本研究证实，黑腹果蝇可作为模型，阐释尼古丁对发育中生物体的作用机制。在含尼古丁培养基中饲养的黑腹果蝇，会表现出与哺乳动物相似的发育与行为异常：存活率与体重下降、发育周期延长，同时对急性尼古丁与乙醇的敏感性降低。黑腹果蝇烟碱型乙酰胆碱受体α7亚基（Dα7）介导了上述部分效应，本研究同时揭示了Dα7在黑腹果蝇乙醇镇静反应中的全新功能。未来借助黑腹果蝇成熟的遗传与分子研究工具，将可进一步发掘相关机制的更多内容。