Abstract
Vesicular neurotransmitter transporters are proteins responsible for packaging neurotransmitters in the presynaptic terminals neurons. Drosophila has many vesicular transporters, including members of families that package conserved small molecule neurotransmitters: vesicular acetylcholine transporter (VAChT), vesicular g-aminobutyric acid transporter (VGAT), vesicular monoamine transporter (VMAT), and vesicular glutamate transporter (VGluT). These transporters participate in various neuronal activities. However, how they are regulated in Drosophila brains is still not fully understood. In this project, we used global activity manipulations, including pharmacological and environmental manipulations, to perturb the environment in fly brains, and we studied how such manipulations might regulate the expression of VAChT, VGAT, and VGluT. Using picrotoxinin, an antagonist of GABA-A receptor, we found inhibition of GABA-A receptor activity could alter the expression of these transporters and weaken synaptic strength.