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Controlling anoxic tolerance in adult Drosophila via the cGMP–PKG pathway

SUMMARY In this study we identify a cGMP-dependent protein kinase (PKG) cascade as a biochemical pathway critical for controlling low-oxygen tolerance in the adult fruit fly, Drosophila melanogaster. Even though adult Drosophila can survive in 0% oxygen (anoxia) environments for hours, air with less than 2% oxygen rapidly induces locomotory failure resulting in an anoxic coma. We use natural genetic variation and an induced mutation in the foraging (for) gene, which encodes a Drosophila PKG, to demonstrate that the onset of anoxic coma is correlated with PKG activity. Flies that have lower PKG activity demonstrate a significant increase in time to the onset of anoxic coma. Further, in vivo pharmacological manipulations reveal that reducing either PKG or protein phosphatase 2A (PP2A) activity increases tolerance of behavior to acute hypoxic conditions. Alternatively, PKG activation and phosphodiesterase (PDE5/6) inhibition significantly reduce the time to the onset of anoxic coma. By manipulating these targets in paired combinations, we characterized a specific PKG cascade, with upstream and downstream components. Further, using genetic variants of PKG expression/activity subjected to chronic anoxia over 6 h, ~50% of animals with higher PKG activity survive, while only ~25% of those with lower PKG activity survive after a 24 h recovery. Therefore, in this report we describe the PKG pathway and the differential protection of function vs survival in a critically low oxygen environment.