The LIM-Homeodomain Protein Islet Dictates Motor Neuron Electrical Properties by Regulating K+ Channel Expression

Autor: Andrea H. Brand, Tony D. Southall, Verena Wolfram, Richard A. Baines
Jazyk: angličtina
Rok vydání: 2012
Předmět:
Central Nervous System
Embryo
Nonmammalian

Patch-Clamp Techniques
Neuroscience(all)
Green Fluorescent Proteins
Neurotoxins
Biophysics
Biology
Article
Membrane Potentials
Animals
Genetically Modified

03 medical and health sciences
0302 clinical medicine
medicine
Animals
Drosophila Proteins
Transcription factor
030304 developmental biology
Elapid Venoms
Homeodomain Proteins
Motor Neurons
0303 health sciences
geography
geography.geographical_feature_category
Muscles
musculoskeletal
neural
and ocular physiology

General Neuroscience
Gene Expression Regulation
Developmental

Motor neuron
Islet
Electric Stimulation
medicine.anatomical_structure
nervous system
Larva
embryonic structures
Shaker Superfamily of Potassium Channels
Homeobox
Calcium
Drosophila
Axon guidance
Neuron
Ion Channel Gating
Neuroscience
030217 neurology & neurosurgery
Drosophila Protein
Function (biology)
Protein Binding
Zdroj: Neuron
Popis: Summary Neuron electrical properties are critical to function and generally subtype specific, as are patterns of axonal and dendritic projections. Specification of motoneuron morphology and axon pathfinding has been studied extensively, implicating the combinatorial action of Lim-homeodomain transcription factors. However, the specification of electrical properties is not understood. Here, we address the key issues of whether the same transcription factors that specify morphology also determine subtype specific electrical properties. We show that Drosophila motoneuron subtypes express different K+ currents and that these are regulated by the conserved Lim-homeodomain transcription factor Islet. Specifically, Islet is sufficient to repress a Shaker-mediated A-type K+ current, most likely due to a direct transcriptional effect. A reduction in Shaker increases the frequency of action potential firing. Our results demonstrate the deterministic role of Islet on the excitability patterns characteristic of motoneuron subtypes.
Highlights ► Embryonic motoneurons show subtype-specific electrical properties ► Common developmental mechanisms predetermine morphology and electrical properties ► Islet suppresses A-type K+ channel expression in ventral motoneurons ► Absence of the A-type K+ channel increases action potential firing frequency
Wolfram et al. report that early expression of the Lim-homeodomain transcription factor Islet represses the Shaker-dependent fast potassium channel in developing motoneurons. This is indicative that subtype-specific electrical properties in developing neurons are set by intrinsic mechanisms.
Databáze: OpenAIRE