Name: quantification of macronutrients intake in a thermogenetic neuronal screen using drosophila larvae
Uploaded: 2020-06-11T14:45:00
Description: Watch this Scientific Journal Video about Quantification of Macronutrients Intake in a Thermogenetic Neuronal Screen using Drosophila Larvae at JoVE.com

We would like to thank to Instituto Gulbenkian de Ci&#234;ncia (IGC) for providing us access to part of the experimental equipment described in this protocol. This work was supported by Portuguese Foundation for Science and Technology (FCT), LISBOA-01-0145-FEDER-007660, PTDC/NEU- NMC/2459/2014, IF/00697/2014 and&#160;La Caixa&#160;HR17-00595 to PMD and by an Australian Research Council Future Fellowship (FT170100259) to CKM.

1. Preparation of the sucrose-yeast (SY) diets
<ol>
	<li>Weigh all the dry ingredients (agar, yeast, sucrose) for the macronutrient balancing and L3 rearing diets. The amounts in grams for each of the ingredients needed to prepare 1 L of food are indicated in Figure 1B. 
	NOTE: Take into account that approximately 13 mL of food is needed to fill a 60-mm Petri dish.</li>
	<li>Dissolve all ingredients in sterile distilled water (use approximately 50% of the total volume of water needed ...

<ol>
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D., et al. <a target="_blank" href="http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/entrez/query.fcgi?db=PubMed&cmd=Search&doptcmdl=Citation&defaultField=Title+Word&term=Tools+for+neuroanatomy+and+neurogenetics+in+Drosophila.">Tools for neuroanatomy and neurogenetics in Drosophila.</a> Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America. 105 (28), 9715-9720 (2008).</li><li>Jenett, A., et al. <a target="_blank" href="http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/entrez/query.fcgi?db=PubMed&cmd=Search&doptcmdl=Citation&defaultField=Title+Word&term=A+GAL4-driver+line+resource+for+Drosophila+neurobiology.">A GAL4-driver line resource for Drosophila neurobiology.</a> Cell Reports. 2 (4), 991-1001 (2012).</li><li>Kitamoto, T. <a target="_blank" href="http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/entrez/query.fcgi?db=PubMed&cmd=Search&doptcmdl=Citation&defaultField=Title+Word&term=Conditional+modification+of+behavior+in+Drosophila+by+targeted+expression+of+a+temperature-sensitive+shibire+allele+in+defined+neurons.">Conditional modification of behavior in Drosophila by targeted expression of a temperature-sensitive shibire allele in defined neurons.</a> Journal of Neurobiology. 47 (2), 81-92 (2001).</li><li>Brand, A. H., Perrimon, N. <a target="_blank" href="http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/entrez/query.fcgi?db=PubMed&cmd=Search&doptcmdl=Citation&defaultField=Title+Word&term=Targeted+gene+expression+as+a+means+of+altering+cell+fates+and+generating+dominant+phenotypes.">Targeted gene expression as a means of altering cell fates and generating dominant phenotypes.</a> Development. 118 (2), 401-415 (1993).</li><li>Shirangi, T. R., Stern, D. L., Truman, J. W. <a target="_blank" href="http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/entrez/query.fcgi?db=PubMed&cmd=Search&doptcmdl=Citation&defaultField=Title+Word&term=Motor+control+of+Drosophila+courtship+song.">Motor control of Drosophila courtship song.</a> Cell Reports. 5 (3), 678-686 (2013).</li><li>Mirth, C. M. 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With this protocol, one could test the ability of larvae under thermogenetic-activation of specific neuronal populations to regulate the intake levels of protein and carbohydrates, two major macronutrients, when exposed to diets of different P:C composition. This method was tested in the context of a larval preliminary screening aiming to identify neuronal populations associated with the control of food intake across diets of different macronutrient quality. This work also contributes to demonstrating that Drosophila...

An erratum was issued for:&#160;<a href="https://www.jove.com/t/61323/quantification-macronutrients-intake-thermogenetic-neuronal-screen">Quantification of Macronutrients Intake in a Thermogenetic Neuronal Screen using Drosophila Larvae</a>. A figure was updated.
Figure 1&#160;was updated from:
<img alt="Figure 1" class="xfigimg" src="/files/ftp_upload/61323/61323fig1.jpg" /> 
Figure 1: The sucrose-yeast (SY) diets used in our protocol. (A) The blue dots represent the isocaloric (248 calories/L) macronutrient balancing diets used in the feeding assay, which differ in the protein to carbohydrate (P:C) ratios: 1:1, 1:4 and 1:16. The beige dot represents the diet used to rear the experimental third-instar larvae (L3), which contained a P:C ratio of 1:2 and a caloric density of 495 calories/L. (B) Detailed composition and nutritional information of the sucrose-yeast (SY) based diets. The components are the same for all the diets: agar, sucrose and yeast. The amount in grams of the components needed to prepare 1 L of diet is shown. Note that 1% (v/v) of blue dye must be added to the macronutrient balancing diets and to the L3 rearing diet nipagin and propionic acid solutions must be added to a final concentration (v/v) of 3% and 0.3%, respectively. <a href="https://www.jove.com/files/ftp_upload/61323/61323fig1large.jpg" target="_blank">Please click here to view a larger version of this figure.</a>
to:
<img alt="Figure 1" class="xfigimg" src="/files/ftp_upload/61323/61323fig1v2.jpg" /> 
Figure 1: The sucrose-yeast (SY) diets used in our protocol. (A) The blue dots represent the isocaloric (248 calories/L) macronutrient balancing diets used in the feeding assay, which differ in the protein to carbohydrate (P:C) ratios: 1:1, 1:4 and 1:16. The beige dot represents the diet used to rear the experimental third-instar larvae (L3), which contained a P:C ratio of 1:2 and a caloric density of 495 calories/L. (B) Detailed composition and nutritional information of the sucrose-yeast (SY) based diets. The components are the same for all the diets: agar, sucrose and yeast. The amount in grams of the components needed to prepare 1 L of diet is shown. Note that 1% (v/v) of blue dye must be added to the macronutrient balancing diets and to the L3 rearing diet nipagin and propionic acid solutions must be added to a final concentration (v/v) of 3% and 0.3%, respectively. <a href="https://www.jove.com/files/ftp_upload/61323/61323fig1v2large.jpg" target="_blank">Please click here to view a larger version of this figure.</a>

An erratum was issued for:&#160;<a href="https://www.jove.com/t/61323/quantification-macronutrients-intake-thermogenetic-neuronal-screen">Quantification of Macronutrients Intake in a Thermogenetic Neuronal Screen using Drosophila Larvae</a>. A figure was updated.

Erratum: Quantification of Macronutrients Intake in a Thermogenetic Neuronal Screen using Drosophila Larvae

All animals depend on a balanced diet to acquire the necessary amounts of nutrients for survival, growth, and reproduction1. The choice of what and how much to eat is influenced by a multitude of interacting factors related to the internal state of the animal, like the satiety level, and environmental conditions, such as food quality2,3,4,5. Protein and carbohydrates are two major macronutrients and its balanced intake is essential to sustain animals&#8217; physiological processes. Therefore, the understanding of the neural mechanisms controlling feeding behaviors and sustaining a balanced intake of these macronutrients is extremely relevant. This is because life history traits like lifespan, fecundity, and metabolic health are directly affected by the levels of protein intake intake6,7,8,9,10.
The use of simpler more tractable organisms that exhibit evolutionarily conserved feeding habits with complex animals, including mammals, is essential to this type of studies. Importantly, these simpler animal models provide a good opportunity to dissect complex biological questions in a costly, ethically and technically more effective context. In the last decades, Drosophila, with its powerful genetic toolkit, intricate and stereotypical behavior and conserved architecture of peripheral and nutrient-sensing mechanisms with mammals, has been a fruitful model for behavioral neurobiologists11. Ultimately, the hope is that by understanding how food intake is regulated in this animal, with a simpler nervous system, we can then begin to untangle neuronal malfunctions underlying human eating disorders.
The study of neuronal substrates for feeding behaviors is deeply dependent on being able to simultaneously measure animals&#8217; food intake while manipulating their neuronal activity. Due to the minimal quantities of food ingested, quantifying the amount of food eaten by flies is extremely challenging, and all methods currently available present significant limitations. Thus, the gold standard is to use a combination of complementary methodologies12. Adult flies have been historically favored as a genetic and behavioral model. Nevertheless, Drosophila larvae, also offer opportunities to investigate neuronal substrates encoding feeding behavior. The larval central nervous system (CNS), with around 12,000 neurons, is significantly less complex than that of the adult, which contains approximately 150,000 neurons. This lower complexity is not only numerical but also functional, since larval behaviors rely on simpler locomotive functions and sensory systems. Despite the apparent simplicity of their nervous systems, larvae still exhibit complete feeding behaviors, and some methods to quantify food ingestion in Drosophila larvae have been described5,13,14,15. By pairing with manipulations of neuronal activity, Drosophila larvae can constitute a highly tractable model for understanding the neural regulation of food intake.
Provided here is a detailed protocol to quantify food intake in larvae exposed to diets of different macronutrient quality. The diets, so-called macronutrient balancing diets, differed in the protein and carbohydrates contents, specifically with respect to the protein to carbohydrate (P:C) ratios: 1:1 (protein-rich diet), 1:4 (intermediate diet), and 1:16 (protein-poor diet), as shown in Figure 1A. Briefly, a quantitative no-choice feeding assay was established using these three isocaloric sucrose-yeast (SY)-based diets dyed with a blue food dye. Because yeast extract and sucrose were used as protein and carbohydrate sources, and both contain carbohydrates, variation in the P:C ratios was obtained by changing the balance of these two components, as previously described16 and as indicated in Figure 1B. A schematic overview of the protocol, showing the main experimental steps, is available in Figure 2.
This protocol was established with the aim of investigating the role of specific neuronal populations on the regulation of larval feeding levels in diets of different P:C ratios and in the context of a thermogenetic neuronal screen. A well-characterized neurogenetic tool was used from the Transient Receptor Potential (TRP) family: Drosophila Transient Receptor Potential channel (dTRPA1), which is a temperature and voltage-gated cation channel, allowing the firing of action potentials when ambient temperatures rise above 25 &#730;C17. To express the dTRPA1 transgene, we took advantage of the Gal4 lines based on cis-regulatory regions from the Drosophila genome, established in the Rubin laboratory, in the context of the FlyLight project at Janelia Research Campus18,19.
Although the protocol, here described, has been established in the context of an activation screen, it can be easily adapted by the experimenter to other specific needs or interests, namely to perform a suppression screen using the temperature sensitive neuronal silencer ShibireTS20, in alternative to dTRPA1. This and other adaptions are discussed in the protocol and discussion sections.

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			<td height="21" style="height:21px;width:323px;">1.5 mL microtubes</td>
			<td style="width:271px;">Sarstedt AG &#38; Co.</td>
			<td style="width:247px;">72.690.001</td>
			<td style="width:1272px;"></td>
		</tr>
		<tr height="21">
			<td height="21" style="height:21px;width:323px;">10xPBS</td>
			<td style="width:271px;">Nytech</td>
			<td style="width:247px;">MB18201</td>
			<td></td>
		</tr>
		<tr height="21">
			<td height="21" style="height:21px;width:323px;">2.0 mL microtubes</td>
			<td style="width:271px;">Sarstedt AG &#38; Co.</td>
			<td style="width:247px;">72.695.500</td>
			<td></td>
		</tr>
		<tr height="21">
			<td height="21" style="height:21px;width:323px;">60 mm petri dishes</td>
			<td style="width:271px;">Greiner Bio-one, Austria</td>
			<td style="width:247px;">628161</td>
			<td></td>
		</tr>
		<tr height="21">
			<td height="21" style="height:21px;width:323px;">96 well microplates</td>
			<td style="width:271px;">Santa Cruz Biotechnology</td>
			<td style="width:247px;">SC-204453</td>
			<td></td>
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		<tr height="21">
			<td height="21" style="height:21px;width:323px;">Agar</td>
			<td style="width:271px;">Pr&#243;-vida, Portugal</td>
			<td style="width:247px;"></td>
			<td></td>
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		<tr height="21">
			<td height="21" style="height:21px;width:323px;">Bench cooler</td>
			<td style="width:271px;">Nalgene, USA</td>
			<td style="width:247px;">Labtop Cooler 5115-0032</td>
			<td></td>
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			<td height="21" style="height:21px;width:323px;">Blue food dye</td>
			<td style="width:271px;">Rayner, Billingshurst, UK</td>
			<td style="width:247px;"></td>
			<td></td>
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		<tr height="21">
			<td height="21" style="height:21px;width:323px;">Cell disruption media</td>
			<td style="width:271px;">Scientific Industries, Inc.</td>
			<td style="width:247px;">888-850-6208</td>
			<td>(0.5 mm glass beads)</td>
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		<tr height="21">
			<td height="21" style="height:21px;width:323px;">Dish weight boats</td>
			<td style="width:271px;">Santa Cruz Biotechnology</td>
			<td style="width:247px;">SC-201606</td>
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		<tr height="42">
			<td height="42" style="height:42px;width:323px;">Embryo collection cage for 60 mm petri dishes</td>
			<td style="width:271px;">Flystuff, Scientific Laboratory Supplies, UK</td>
			<td style="width:247px;">FLY1212 (59-100)</td>
			<td></td>
		</tr>
		<tr height="21">
			<td height="21" style="height:21px;">Featherweight forceps</td>
			<td style="width:271px;">BioQuip Products, USA</td>
			<td style="width:247px;">4750</td>
			<td></td>
		</tr>
		<tr height="21">
			<td height="21" style="height:21px;width:323px;">Fly food for stocks maintenance</td>
			<td style="width:271px;"></td>
			<td style="width:247px;"></td>
			<td>1 L food contains: 10 g Agar, 100 g Yeast Extract, 50 g Sucrose, 30 mL Nipagin, 3 mL propionic acid</td>
		</tr>
		<tr height="21">
			<td height="21" style="height:21px;width:323px;">Forceps #5</td>
			<td style="width:271px;">Dumont</td>
			<td style="width:247px;">0108-5-PS</td>
			<td>Standard tips, INOX, 11cm</td>
		</tr>
		<tr height="21">
			<td height="21" style="height:21px;width:323px;">Incubator</td>
			<td style="width:271px;">LMS Ltd, UK</td>
			<td style="width:247px;">Series 2, Model 230</td>
			<td>For thermogenetic feeding assay (30&#8728;C)</td>
		</tr>
		<tr height="21">
			<td height="21" style="height:21px;width:323px;">Incubator</td>
			<td style="width:271px;">Percival Scientific, USA</td>
			<td style="width:247px;">DR36NL</td>
			<td>To stage larvae (19&#8728;C)</td>
		</tr>
		<tr height="21">
			<td height="21" style="height:21px;width:323px;">Janelia lines</td>
			<td style="width:271px;">Janelia Research Campus</td>
			<td style="width:247px;"></td>
			<td>Detailed information in Table 2</td>
		</tr>
		<tr height="21">
			<td height="21" style="height:21px;width:323px;">Macronutrient balancing diets</td>
			<td style="width:271px;"></td>
			<td style="width:247px;"></td>
			<td>Composition and nutritional information in Figure 1</td>
		</tr>
		<tr height="21">
			<td height="21" style="height:21px;width:323px;">Methanol</td>
			<td style="width:271px;">VWR</td>
			<td style="width:247px;">CAS number: 67-56-1</td>
			<td></td>
		</tr>
		<tr height="21">
			<td height="21" style="height:21px;width:323px;">Nipagin (Methyl 4-hydroxybenzoate)</td>
			<td style="width:271px;">Sigma-Aldrich</td>
			<td style="width:247px;">H5501</td>
			<td></td>
		</tr>
		<tr height="21">
			<td height="21" style="height:21px;width:323px;">Nitrile gloves</td>
			<td style="width:271px;">VWR, USA</td>
			<td style="width:247px;"></td>
			<td></td>
		</tr>
		<tr height="42">
			<td height="42" style="height:42px;width:323px;">Refrigerated centrifuge</td>
			<td style="width:271px;">Eppendorf, Germany</td>
			<td style="width:247px;">5804 R / Serial number: 5805CI364293</td>
			<td></td>
		</tr>
		<tr height="21">
			<td height="21" style="height:21px;width:323px;">Rubin Gal4 ines</td>
			<td style="width:271px;">Janelia Research Campus</td>
			<td style="width:247px;"></td>
			<td>Stoks available at Bloomington Drosophila Stock Center</td>
		</tr>
		<tr height="21">
			<td height="21" style="height:21px;width:323px;">ShibireTS UAS line</td>
			<td style="width:271px;">Bloomington Drosophila Stock Center</td>
			<td style="width:247px;">BDSC number: 66600</td>
			<td>Provided by Carlos Ribeiro Group</td>
		</tr>
		<tr height="21">
			<td height="21" style="height:21px;width:323px;">Soft brushes</td>
			<td style="width:271px;"></td>
			<td style="width:247px;"></td>
			<td>For sorting anaesthetised fruit flies</td>
		</tr>
		<tr height="21">
			<td height="21" style="height:21px;width:323px;">Spectrophotometer plate reader</td>
			<td style="width:271px;">Thermo Fisher Scientific</td>
			<td style="width:247px;">Multiskan Go 51119300</td>
			<td></td>
		</tr>
		<tr height="21">
			<td height="21" style="height:21px;width:323px;">Stereo microscope</td>
			<td style="width:271px;">Nikon</td>
			<td style="width:247px;">1016625</td>
			<td></td>
		</tr>
		<tr height="21">
			<td height="21" style="height:21px;width:323px;">Sucrose</td>
			<td style="width:271px;">Sidul, Portugal</td>
			<td style="width:247px;"></td>
			<td></td>
		</tr>
		<tr height="21">
			<td height="21" style="height:21px;width:323px;">Third-instar larvae (L3) rearing diet</td>
			<td style="width:271px;"></td>
			<td style="width:247px;"></td>
			<td>Composition and nutritional information in Figure 1</td>
		</tr>
		<tr height="21">
			<td height="21" style="height:21px;width:323px;">Timer</td>
			<td style="width:271px;"></td>
			<td style="width:247px;"></td>
			<td></td>
		</tr>
		<tr height="21">
			<td height="21" style="height:21px;width:323px;">Tissue lyzer / bead beater</td>
			<td style="width:271px;">MP Biomedicals, USA</td>
			<td style="width:247px;">FastPrep-24 6004500</td>
			<td></td>
		</tr>
		<tr height="21">
			<td height="21" style="height:21px;width:323px;">TRPA1 UAS line</td>
			<td style="width:271px;">Bloomington Drosophila Stock Center</td>
			<td style="width:247px;">BDSC number: 26264</td>
			<td>Expresses TrpA1 under UAS control; may be used to activate neurons experimentally at 25 &#8728;C</td>
		</tr>
		<tr height="21">
			<td height="21" style="height:21px;width:323px;">Water bath</td>
			<td style="width:271px;">Sheldon Manufacturing Inc., USA</td>
			<td style="width:247px;">W20M-2 / 03068308 / 9021195</td>
			<td></td>
		</tr>
		<tr height="21">
			<td height="21" style="height:21px;width:323px;">Yeast extract</td>
			<td style="width:271px;">Pr&#243;-vida, Portugal</td>
			<td style="width:247px;"></td>
			<td>51% Protein, 15% Carbohydrate</td>
		</tr>
	</tbody>
</table>

quantification of macronutrients intake in a thermogenetic neuronal screen using drosophila larvae

Foraging and feeding behaviors allow animals to access sources of energy and nutrients essential for their development, health, and fitness. Investigating the neuronal regulation of these behaviors is essential for the understanding of the physiological and molecular mechanisms underlying nutritional homeostasis. The use of genetically tractable animal models such as worms, flies, and fish greatly facilitates these types of studies. In the last decade, the fruit fly Drosophila melanogaster has been used as a powerful animal model by neurobiologists investigating the neuronal control of feeding and foraging behaviors. While undoubtedly valuable, most studies examine adult flies. Here, we describe a protocol that takes advantage of the simpler larval nervous system to investigate neuronal substrates controlling feeding behaviors when larvae are exposed to diets differing in their protein and carbohydrates content. Our methods are based on a quantitative colorimetric no-choice feeding assay, performed in the context of a neuronal thermogenetic-activation screen. As a read-out, the amount of food eaten by larvae over a 1 h interval was used when exposed to one of the three dye-labeled diets that differ in their protein to carbohydrates (P:C) ratios. The efficacy of this protocol is demonstrated in the context of a neurogenetic screen in larval Drosophila, by identifying candidate neuronal populations regulating the amount of food eaten in diets of different macronutrient quality. We were also able to classify and group the genotypes tested into phenotypic classes. Besides a brief review of the currently available methods in the literature, the advantages and limitations of these methods are discussed and, also, some suggestions are provided about how this protocol might be adapted to other specific experiments.

Drosophila larvae regulate their protein intake at the cost of ingesting excess carbohydrates23 (schematic plot in Figure 2E). Actually, this prioritization of protein intake has been observed in many other animals and is called the protein leveraging24,25.
Taking advantage of this robust feeding behavioral response, a behavior-based screen was designed aiming to identify n...

Watch this Scientific Journal Video about Quantification of Macronutrients Intake in a Thermogenetic Neuronal Screen using Drosophila Larvae at JoVE.com

Quantification of Macronutrients Intake in a Thermogenetic Neuronal Screen using Drosophila Larvae

Described here is a protocol that enables the colorimetric quantification of the amount of food eaten within a defined interval of time by Drosophila melanogaster larvae exposed to diets of different macronutrient quality. These assays are conducted in the context of a neuronal thermogenetic screen.

Quantification of Macronutrients Intake in a Thermogenetic Neuronal Screen using Drosophila Larvae

Foraging and feeding behaviors allow animals to access sources of energy and nutrients essential for their development, health, and fitness. Investigating ...

Research

JoVE Journal

Neuroscience

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Paired Nanoinjection and Electrophysiology Assay to Screen for Bioactivity of Compounds using the Drosophila melanogaster Giant Fiber System

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The CApillary FEeder Assay Measures Food Intake in Drosophila melanogaster

For most animals, feeding is an essential behavior for securing survival, and it influences development, locomotion, health and reproduction. Ingestion of ...

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