Rewiring an olfactory circuit by altering cell-surface combinatorial code.

ABSTRACT: Proper brain function requires the precise assembly of neural circuits during development. Despite the identification of many cell-surface proteins (CSPs) that help guide axons to their targets^1,2, it remains mostly unknown how multiple CSPs work together to assemble a functional circuit. Here we used synaptic partner matching in the Drosophila olfactory circuit^3,4 to address this question. By systematically altering the combination of differentially expressed CSPs in a single type of olfactory receptor neuron (ORN), which senses a male pheromone that inhibits male-male courtship, we switched its connection nearly completely from its endogenous postsynaptic projection neuron (PN) type to a new PN type that promotes courtship. From this switch, we deduced a combinatori

SUBMITTER: Lyu C 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC12804075 | biostudies-literature | 2026 Jan

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature