Journal article
Role of dopamine signaling in male courtship suppression induced by confinement stress in Drosophila
iScience, Vol.26(6), 115906
06/19/2026
DOI: 10.1016/j.isci.2026.115906
PMCID: PMC13196396
PMID: 42181280
Abstract
Stress disturbs physiological and psychological homeostasis across species. In mammals, stress reduces male courtship motivation, but the underlying neuronal mechanisms remain poorly understood. Here, we establish a Drosophila model in which confinement to a small space without complete immobilization—termed small-space (SS) stress—suppresses male courtship behavior. Because stress modulates dopamine signaling in both vertebrates and invertebrates, we examined its role in SS-stress-induced courtship suppression. Pharmacological inhibition and genetic manipulations revealed that dopamine synthesis, release, and reception are required to maintain—but not initiate—the SS-stress-induced suppression of male courtship. Furthermore, dopamine release to and reception within the mushroom body—a brain region involved in higher-order sensory processing—were essential for sustaining courtship inhibition after stress. This SS stress paradigm provides a robust framework for elucidating dopamine-mediated mechanisms that support persistent behavioral changes after stress and contribute to a deeper understanding of the neurobiological basis of stress-related sexual dysfunction.
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•Drosophila males show courtship suppression after confinement in a small space•The duration of courtship suppression correlates with the stress length•Dopamine signaling is required to sustain stress-induced courtship suppression•Dopamine-responsive MB neurons are involved in sustaining courtship suppression
Biological sciences; Neuroscience; Behavioral neuroscience; Molecular neuroscience
Details
- Title: Subtitle
- Role of dopamine signaling in male courtship suppression induced by confinement stress in Drosophila
- Creators
- Tomohito Sato - Tokyo Metropolitan UniversityRana Toyama - Tokyo Metropolitan UniversityToshihiro Kitamoto - University of IowaTakaomi Sakai - Tokyo Metropolitan University
- Resource Type
- Journal article
- Publication Details
- iScience, Vol.26(6), 115906
- DOI
- 10.1016/j.isci.2026.115906
- PMID
- 42181280
- PMCID
- PMC13196396
- ISSN
- 2589-0042
- eISSN
- 2589-0042
- Publisher
- Elsevier Inc
- Grant note
- JSPS KAKENHI: 21H02528 Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technol-ogy of Japan: 21H00434
This study was supported by JSPS KAKENHI (grant no. 21H02528 to T. Sakai) and a Grant-in-Aid for Scientific Research on Innovative Areas (Singularity Biology) from the Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technol-ogy of Japan (grant no. 21H00434 to T. Sakai) . We thank Kahori Sasaki and Emiko Nakagawa for their technical assistance and Kohei Ueno for carefully reading the manuscript and providing critical comments. We also thank Shoma Sato and Show Inami for their helpful discussions. We are grateful to the Bloomington Drosophila Stock Center for providing the fly strains.
- Language
- English
- Electronic publication date
- 04/27/2026
- Date published
- 06/19/2026
- Academic Unit
- Iowa Neuroscience Institute; Anesthesia; Neuroscience and Pharmacology
- Record Identifier
- 9985163543102771
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