Abstract
Gustatory Receptor 64 (Gr64) genes are a cluster of 6 neuronally expressed receptors involved in sweet taste sensation in Drosophila melanogaster. Gr64s modulate calcium signalling and excitatory responses to several different sugars. Here, we discover an unexpected nonneuronal function of Gr64 receptors and show that they promote proteostasis in epithelial cells affected by proteotoxic stress. Using heterozygous mutations in ribosome proteins (Rp), which have recently been shown to induce proteotoxic stress and protein aggregates in cells, we show that Rp/+ cells in Drosophila imaginal discs up-regulate expression of the entire Gr64 cluster and depend on these receptors for survival. We further show that loss of Gr64 in Rp/+ cells exacerbates stress pathway activation and proteotoxic stress by negatively affecting autophagy and proteasome function. This work identifies a noncanonical role in proteostasis maintenance for a family of gustatory receptors known for their function in neuronal sensation.
| Original language | English |
|---|---|
| Article number | e3001710 |
| Pages (from-to) | e3001710 |
| Journal | PLoS Biology |
| Volume | 20 |
| Issue number | 7 |
| DOIs | |
| Publication status | Published - 21 Jul 2022 |
Bibliographical note
Publisher Copyright:© 2022 Baumgartner et al. This is an open access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author and source are credited.
Keywords
- Animals
- Drosophila/metabolism
- Drosophila Proteins/genetics
- Drosophila melanogaster/metabolism
- Epithelial Cells/metabolism
- Proteostasis/genetics
- Receptors, Cell Surface/genetics
- Taste/physiology