The possible role of dopamine receptors DOP-1 and DOP-3 in behavior thermotolerance regulation of Caenorhabditis elegans Maupas

The paper investigates dopamine influence on the tolerance of swimming, induced by mechanical stimulus, to the temperature of 36°C during the experiments with nematodes of wild type strain N2 and mutant strains LX636 (dop-1(vs101)) and LX703 (dop-3(vs106)) with null-mutations of genes of dopamine receptors DOP-1 and DOP-3. The authors have shown that dopamine in concentrations 0,5–1,0 mM increased the behavior thermotolerance of C. elegans while in concentrations 7,5–15,0 dopamine caused its decrease. Null-mutation of dopamine receptor gene dop-3 prevented the decrease of C. elegans thermotolerance by dopamine. On the contrary, null-mutation of dopamine receptor gene dop-1 caused significant rise in sensitivity of behavior thermotolerance to dopamine. In connection with well-known conceptions assuming that the reason of heat damage of C. elegans behavior is acetylcholine deficiency due to inhibition of its secretion by hyperthermia, the dopamine influence on behavior thermotolerance can be accounted for the dopamine influence on acetylcholine secretion by motor neurons. It is known that in C. elegans motor neurons the coexpression of genes of receptors DOP-1 and DOP-3 takes place. Activation of these receptors in turn causes opposite changes in dopamine secretion.