{"id":35848,"date":"2022-09-07T00:00:27","date_gmt":"2022-09-07T07:00:27","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/vermont.salk.edu\/?post_type=disclosure&p=35848"},"modified":"2023-12-11T13:57:46","modified_gmt":"2023-12-11T21:57:46","slug":"aggression-de-escalation-gene-identified-in-fruit-flies","status":"publish","type":"disclosure","link":"https:\/\/www.salk.edu\/es\/news-release\/aggression-de-escalation-gene-identified-in-fruit-flies\/","title":{"rendered":"Identifican gen que reduce la agresi\u00f3n en moscas de la fruta"},"content":{"rendered":"

LA JOLLA\u2014The brain mechanisms that cause aggressive behavior have been well studied. Far less understood are the processes that tell the body when it\u2019s time to stop fighting. Now, a new study by Salk scientists identifies a gene and a group of cells in the brain that play a critical role in suppressing aggression in fruit flies.<\/p>\n

Los hallazgos, publicados en Science Advances<\/em><\/a> on September 7, 2022, have implications for disorders such as Parkinson\u2019s disease, which can sometimes cause behavioral changes like increased aggression and combativeness.<\/p>\n

\"Salk
Salk scientists discovered a gene and group of cells that prevent escalated aggression in the brains of fruit flies.
Haga clic aqu\u00ed<\/a> para obtener una imagen en alta resoluci\u00f3n.
Cr\u00e9dito: Instituto Salk<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

\u201cWe\u2019ve found an important mechanism in the brain that normally prevents us from expressing high levels of aggression,\u201d says senior author Kenta Asahina<\/a>, associate professor in Salk\u2019s Molecular Neurobiology Laboratory. \u201cAlthough our findings are in fruit flies, the same mechanism may be at play in humans, at least at the molecular level, which could help better explain a host of psychiatric diseases.\u201d<\/p>\n

De-escalation, or the ability to decide when it\u2019s time to stop fighting, is a vital behavior for survival because it allows animals to adjust their aggressiveness according to the costs and benefits of an encounter with a rival\u2014at a certain point, continuing to fight is no longer worth it. Sensing when it\u2019s time to de-escalate is complex because there isn\u2019t an obvious trigger, such as the way fullness triggers an animal to stop eating.<\/p>\n

For the study, scientists compared the behavior of normal fruit flies (Drosophilia)<\/em> and fruit flies lacking various genes of interest. Specifically, they examined how frequently male flies lunged at other males, a typical aggressive behavior in this species. They found that flies missing a gene called nervy were significantly more aggressive than their normal counterparts.<\/p>\n

The nervy gene isn\u2019t actually involved in the animal\u2019s moment-to-moment decision to stop fighting. Rather, it helps give the fly the ability to respond to environmental cues (likely the fly\u2019s past experience with other individuals), the researchers say.<\/p>\n

\"From
From left: Kenta Asahina and Kenichi Ishii
Haga clic aqu\u00ed<\/a> para obtener una imagen en alta resoluci\u00f3n.
Cr\u00e9dito: Instituto Salk<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

\u201cThe function of nervy is to set up the nervous system in such a way that animals are ready to stop fighting when the right signal comes in,\u201d says first author Kenichi Ishii, a former postdoctoral fellow in Asahina\u2019s lab.<\/p>\n

The flies that lacked nervy weren\u2019t initiating more aggressive interactions by chasing other flies. They were simply more likely to choose to fight over the course of a normal encounter.<\/p>\n

Researchers then used single-cell sequencing to look at how other genes were activated differently in flies that were missing the nervy gene,<\/em> compared to normal flies. This allowed the team to identify other genes downstream from nervy that were involved in developing the de-escalation mechanism.<\/p>\n

“Although flies are very different animals than humans, some of these mechanisms may be similar in both species. Uncovering the molecular basis of aggression may lead to a better understanding of how aggression is involved in certain types of psychiatric disorders,” says Asahina, holder of the Helen McLoraine Developmental Chair.<\/p>\n

Although the authors also identified a small group of cells in the brain (neurons) that de-escalate fighting by using the nervy gene, more work is necessary to understand the brain circuit that stops fighting. For the next step, the researchers hope to precisely identify the group of neurons responsible for suppressing aggressive behavior. They also want to figure out at what stage of development the nervy gene is important for shaping the nervous system.<\/p>\n

Other authors include Matteo Cortese and Maxim N. Shokhirev of Salk; and Xubo Leng of Washington University in St. Louis.<\/p>\n

Major funders include the National Institutes of Health (R35GM119844), the Naito Foundation Grant for Studying Overseas, and the JSPS Postdoctoral Fellowship for Research Abroad.<\/p>","protected":false},"featured_media":35917,"template":"","faculty":[80],"disease-research":[124,162,463],"class_list":["post-35848","disclosure","type-disclosure","status-publish","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","faculty-kenta-asahina","disease-research-neuroscience-and-neurological-disorders","disease-research-parkinsons-disease","disease-research-social-isolation"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\nAggression de-escalation gene identified in fruit flies - Salk Institute for Biological Studies<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.salk.edu\/es\/news-release\/aggression-de-escalation-gene-identified-in-fruit-flies\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"es_MX\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Aggression de-escalation gene identified in fruit flies - Salk Institute for Biological Studies\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"LA JOLLA\u2014The brain mechanisms that cause aggressive behavior have been well studied. 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