Expression Level Changes in Serotonin Transporter are Associated with Food Deprivation in the Pond Snail Lymnaea stagnalis

Nozomi Chikamoto, Kanta Fujimoto, Junko Nakai, Yuki Totani, Dai Hatakeyama, Etsuro Ito*

*Corresponding author for this work

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

3 Citations (Scopus)

Abstract

In the pond snail Lymnaea stagnalis, serotonin (5-HT) plays an important role in feeding behavior and its associated learning (e.g., conditioned taste aversion: CTA). The 5-HT content in the central nervous system (CNS) fluctuates with changes in the nutritional status, but it is also expected to be influenced by changes in the serotonin transporter (SERT) expression level. In the present study, we identified SERT in Lymnaea and observed its localization in 5-HTergic neurons, including the cerebral giant cells (CGCs) in the cerebral ganglia and the pedal A cluster neurons and right and left pedal dorsal 1 neurons in the pedal ganglia by in situ hybridization. Real-time PCR revealed that the SERT mRNA expression level was lower under severe food deprivation than under mild food deprivation in the whole CNS as well as in a single CGC. These results inversely correlated with previous data that the 5-HT content in the CNS was higher in the severely food-deprived state than in the mildly food-deprived state. Furthermore, in single CGCs, we observed that the 5-HT level was significantly increased in the severely food-deprived state compared with the mildly food-deprived state. Our present findings suggest that changes in the SERT expression level associated with food deprivation may affect 5-HT signaling, probably contributing to learning and memory mechanisms in Lymnaea.

Original languageEnglish
Pages (from-to)382-389
Number of pages8
JournalZoological Science
Volume40
Issue number5
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - 2023 Aug 28

Keywords

  • 5-HT
  • Lymnaea
  • conditioned taste aversion
  • food deprivation
  • serotonin transporter

ASJC Scopus subject areas

  • Animal Science and Zoology

Fingerprint

Dive into the research topics of 'Expression Level Changes in Serotonin Transporter are Associated with Food Deprivation in the Pond Snail Lymnaea stagnalis'. Together they form a unique fingerprint.

Cite this