Hydrogen Peroxide Stimulates Activity and Alters Behavior in Drosophila melanogaster

Abstract

Circadian rhythms in animals are regulated at the level of individual cells and by systemic signaling to coordinate the activities of multiple tissues. The circadian pacemakers have several physiological outputs, including daily locomotor rhythms. Several redox-active compounds have been found to function in regulation of circadian rhythms in cells, however, how particular compounds might be involved in regulating specific animal behaviors remains largely unknown. Here the effects of hydrogen peroxide on Drosophila movement were analyzed using a recently developed three-dimensional real-time multiple fly tracking assay. Both hydrogen peroxide feeding and direct injection of hydrogen peroxide caused increased adult fly locomotor activity. Continuous treatment with hydrogen peroxide also suppressed daily locomotor rhythms. Conditional over-expression of the hydrogen peroxide-producing enzyme superoxide dismutase (SOD) also increased fly activity and altered the patterns of locomotor activity across days and weeks. The real-time fly tracking system allowed for detailed analysis of the effects of these manipulations on behavior. For example, both hydrogen peroxide feeding and SOD over-expression increased all fly motion parameters, however, hydrogen peroxide feeding caused relatively more erratic movement, whereas SOD over-expression produced relatively faster-moving flies. Taken together, the data demonstrate that hydrogen peroxide has dramatic effects on fly movement and daily locomotor rhythms, and implicate hydrogen peroxide in the normal control of these processes.

Expression of zinc-deficient human superoxide dismutase in Drosophila neurons produces a locomotor defect linked to mitochondrial dysfunction

“…Similar findings were recently reported and attributed to increased production of hydrogen peroxide and the consequent alterations in Drosophila activity (Grover et al, 2009). Therefore, it is particularly striking that zinc-deficient SOD1 expression leads to a decrease in physical activity.…”

Fluctuating vs. Continuous Exposure to H2O2: The Effects on Mitochondrial Membrane Potential, Intracellular Calcium, and NF-κB in Astroglia

“…For example, one behavioral study on Drosophila has shown that H 2 O 2 causes activity increase and changes in behavior [36]. However, flies fed with H 2 O 2 -containing medium (resulting in fluctuating H 2 O 2 body level) responded differently compared to transgenic flies with increased intrinsic H 2 O 2 production (analogous to the continuous exposure).…”

A conserved role for the 20S proteasome and Nrf2 transcription factor in oxidative-stress adaptation in mammals, C. elegans and D. melanogaster

“…These results suggest that skn-1 regulates the oxidative stress-induced increase in the 20S proteasome in C. elegans, similar to the effect of Nrf2 in mammalian cell cultures. Previous studies have shown that pre-treatment of D. melanogaster with mild doses of oxidants or radiation can result in a subsequent increase in tolerance to oxidative damage (Moskalev et al, 2009 (Grover et al, 2009). For these experiments, flies were collected 0-48h after eclosion.…”

“…The first step was to develop an appropriately toxic challenge for the flies. Instead of subjecting flies to a single challenge as in mammalian cell culture and C. elegans, the assay employed for D. melanogaster involved incubating the flies in vials containing the toxic dose of H 2 O 2 and scoring survival over time, as previously described (Grover et al, 2009;Sykiotis and Bohmann, 2008;Sykiotis and Bohmann, 2010). Survival was scored every 8h, for up to 104h.…”