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Dopamine-dependent biphasic behaviour under ‘deep diving’ conditions in Caenorhabditis elegans
- Source :
- Proceedings of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences
- Publication Year :
- 2021
- Publisher :
- The Royal Society, 2021.
-
Abstract
- Underwater divers are susceptible to neurological risks due to their exposure to increased pressure. Absorption of elevated partial pressure of inert gases such as helium and nitrogen may lead to nitrogen narcosis. Although the symptoms of nitrogen narcosis are known, the molecular mechanisms underlying these symptoms have not been elucidated. Here, we examined the behaviour of the soil nematode Caenorhabditis elegans under scuba diving conditions. We analysed wild-type animals and mutants in the dopamine pathway under hyperbaric conditions, using several gas compositions and under varying pressure levels. We found that the animals changed their speed on a flat bacterial surface in response to pressure in a biphasic mode that depended on dopamine. Dopamine-deficient cat-2 mutant animals did not exhibit a biphasic response in high pressure, while the extracellular accumulation of dopamine in dat-1 mutant animals mildly influenced this response. Our data demonstrate that in C. elegans , similarly to mammalian systems, dopamine signalling is involved in the response to high pressure. This study establishes C. elegans as a powerful system to elucidate the molecular mechanisms that underly nitrogen toxicity in response to high pressure.
- Subjects :
- Nitrogen
Dopamine
Partial Pressure
Mutant
hyperbaric chamber
Helium
General Biochemistry, Genetics and Molecular Biology
dat-1
03 medical and health sciences
nitrogen narcosis
0302 clinical medicine
Extracellular
medicine
Animals
Behaviour
Nitrogen narcosis
Caenorhabditis elegans
cat-2
Research Articles
030304 developmental biology
General Environmental Science
0303 health sciences
General Immunology and Microbiology
biology
Chemistry
General Medicine
Partial pressure
medicine.disease
biology.organism_classification
Scuba diving
Inert Gas Narcosis
Toxicity
Biophysics
C. elegans
General Agricultural and Biological Sciences
030217 neurology & neurosurgery
medicine.drug
Subjects
Details
- Language :
- English
- ISSN :
- 14712954 and 09628452
- Volume :
- 288
- Issue :
- 1946
- Database :
- OpenAIRE
- Journal :
- Proceedings of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences
- Accession number :
- edsair.doi.dedup.....bb3d360881c0e6e25dd4ee1e428386dc