Dissection of neuronal gap junction circuits that regulate social behavior in <i>Caenorhabditis elegans</i>.

ABSTRACT: A hub-and-spoke circuit of neurons connected by gap junctions controls aggregation behavior and related behavioral responses to oxygen, pheromones, and food in Caenorhabditis elegans The molecular composition of the gap junctions connecting RMG hub neurons with sensory spoke neurons is unknown. We show here that the innexin gene unc-9 is required in RMG hub neurons to drive aggregation and related behaviors, indicating that UNC-9-containing gap junctions mediate RMG signaling. To dissect the circuit in detail, we developed methods to inhibit unc-9-based gap junctions with dominant-negative unc-1 transgenes. unc-1(dn) alters a stomatin-like protein that regulates unc-9 electrical signaling; its disruptive effects can be rescued by a constitutively a

SUBMITTER: Jang H 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC5320989 | biostudies-literature | 2017 Feb

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature