2013 Fiscal Year Final Research Report
Development of a method for evaluation of ageing in cerebral neuronal circuit using circadian rhythm as a gauge
| Project/Area Number |
23657056
|
|---|
| Research Category |
Grant-in-Aid for Challenging Exploratory Research
|
| Allocation Type | Multi-year Fund |
|---|
| Research Field |
Animal physiology/Animal behavior
|
|---|
| Research Institution | Okayama University |
|---|
Principal Investigator |
TOMIOKA Kenji 岡山大学, 自然科学研究科, 教授 (30136163)
|
|---|
| Co-Investigator(Kenkyū-buntansha) |
YOSHII Taishi 岡山大学, 大学院・自然科学研究科, 准教授 (50611357)
|
|---|
| Project Period (FY) |
2011 – 2013
|
| Keywords | 概日リズム / 概日時計 / 時計ニューロン / 加齢 / 脳 |
|---|
| Research Abstract |
The goal of this study was to establish a method to evaluate ageing of cerebral neuronal circuits using overt circadian rhythms as a gauge in Drosophila. Behavioral and molecular analyses revealed that age dependent retardation of a neuropeptide, pigment-dispersing factor (PDF), expression in the dorsal terminal of PDF immunoreactive cerebral clock neurons correlated with the ageing of behavioral rhythms. Overexpression of the peptide strengthened not only the activity rhythm but also molecular oscillation of clock genes even in old flies. Thus measuring the behavioral rhythms may be sufficient to evaluate ageing of the underlying neuronal circuit.
|
