Dokument

Summary:
Neuropeptides regulate multiple physiological processes such as learning, reproduction and growth, both in vertebrates and invertebrates. In my doctoral thesis, I aimed at gaining insights into the neuroarchitecture and the central regulation of peptidergic systems in the larval ventral ganglion (LVG) of the fruit fly Drosophila melanogaster. In particular, I focused on the central regulation of peptidergic neurons which are involved in the control of ecdysis, because ecdysis is a vital and highly conserved behavior under complex neuroendocrine and central regulation. My dissertation consists of six chapters that address three key aspects: 1) Chapter I contains a three-dimensional morphological description of peptidergic systems in the LVG that helps to identify the neural network connections between peptidergic neurons and their pre- and postsynaptic neurons. The ensuing Chapter II then deals with the neuroarchitecture of aminergic neurons in the LVG, because aminergic neurons are likely to interact with peptidergic neurons. 2) Chapter III focuses on the identification of neurotransmitters that are involved in the central regulation of the ecdysis-relevant CCAP-producing neurons. The subsequent chapters IV and V are concerned with the development of methods for the transient synaptic isolation of CCAP-producing neurons during calcium imaging experiments, and the cell-specific silencing of nicotinic ACh receptors, respectively. 3) Chapter VI finally describes the generation and characterization of fluorescent neuropeptide fusion proteins that have been developed to measure neuropeptide release from peptidergic neurons in the intact CNS.

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