Psychiatry related information on scb

• Volado, the gene encoding the Drosophila alphaPS3-integrin, is required for normal short-term memory formation (Grotewiel et al., 1998), supporting a role for integrins in synaptic modulation mechanisms [1].

High impact information on scb

• The Volado gene is expressed preferentially in mushroom body cells, which are neurons known to mediate olfactory learning in insects [2].
• Thus the Volado integrin is essential for the physiological processes underlying memory [2].
• Volado proteins are concentrated in the mushroom body neuropil, brain areas that contain mushroom body processes in synaptic contact with other neurons [2].
• Conditional expression of a Volado transgene during adulthood rescues the memory impairment [2].
• Having generated the tools to eliminate integrin function completely, we confirm that Drosophila integrins do not control proliferation as they do in mammals, and have identified alphaPS3 as a heterodimeric partner for betanu [3].

Biological context of scb

• We report the temporal expression of the gene encoding this integrin subunit, which we have called alphaPS3, throughout development and the localization of its expression during embryogenesis [4].

Anatomical context of scb

• Furthermore, mutations in the scb locus exhibit additional defects corresponding to sites of alphaPS3 transcription, including abnormal salivary glands, mislocalization of the pericardial cells and interrupted trachea [4].
• VOL is strongly concentrated in a subpopulation of synaptic boutons in the CNS neuropil and to a variable subset of synaptic boutons at neuromuscular junctions (NMJs) [1].
• While alpha PS2 beta PS3 was unnecessary for myotube formation on laminin, it was required for the subsequent change to a sarcomeric cytoarchitecture [5].

References