The Prop1-like homeobox gene unc-42 specifies the identity of synaptically connected neurons
| Autor: | Erdem Varol, Amelia Antone, Emily Berghoff, Steven J. Cook, Cyril Cros, Jordan F. Wood, Abhishek Bhattacharya, Yi Feng, Lori Glenwinkel, Neda Masoudi, Denise M. Ferkey, David H. Hall, Oliver Hobert, Yasmin H Ramadan, Ken Nguyen, HaoSheng Sun, Nicki Mohammadi |
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| Rok vydání: | 2021 |
| Předmět: |
Nervous system
QH301-705.5 Science General Biochemistry Genetics and Molecular Biology neuroscience 03 medical and health sciences chemistry.chemical_compound 0302 clinical medicine Neurotransmitter receptor medicine genetics Biology (General) Neurotransmitter transcription factor Caenorhabditis elegans 030304 developmental biology 0303 health sciences General Immunology and Microbiology biology General Neuroscience General Medicine Motor neuron biology.organism_classification medicine.anatomical_structure nervous system chemistry Medicine Homeobox Axon guidance Neuron Neuroscience 030217 neurology & neurosurgery |
| Zdroj: | eLife, Vol 10 (2021) |
| ISSN: | 2050-084X |
| Popis: | Many neuronal identity regulators are expressed in distinct populations of cells in the nervous system, but their function is often analyzed only in specific isolated cellular contexts, thereby potentially leaving overarching themes in gene function undiscovered. We show here that theCaenorhabditis elegansProp1-like homeobox geneunc-42is expressed in 15 distinct sensory, inter- and motor neuron classes throughout the entireC. elegansnervous system. Strikingly, all 15 neuron classes expressingunc-42are synaptically interconnected, prompting us to investigate whetherunc-42controls the functional properties of this circuit and perhaps also the assembly of these neurons into functional circuitry. We found thatunc-42defines the routes of communication between these interconnected neurons by controlling the expression of neurotransmitter pathway genes, neurotransmitter receptors, neuropeptides, and neuropeptide receptors. Anatomical analysis ofunc-42mutant animals reveals defects in axon pathfinding and synaptic connectivity, paralleled by expression defects of molecules involved in axon pathfinding, cell-cell recognition, and synaptic connectivity. We conclude thatunc-42establishes functional circuitry by acting as a terminal selector of functionally connected neuron types. We identify a number of additional transcription factors that are also expressed in synaptically connected neurons and propose that terminal selectors may also function as ‘circuit organizer transcription factors’ to control the assembly of functional circuitry throughout the nervous system. We hypothesize that such organizational properties of transcription factors may be reflective of not only ontogenetic, but perhaps also phylogenetic trajectories of neuronal circuit establishment. |
| Databáze: | OpenAIRE |
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