Serotonin and neuropeptides are both released by the HSN command neuron to initiate Caenorhabditis elegans egg laying.

ABSTRACT: Neurons typically release both a small-molecule neurotransmitter and one or more neuropeptides, but how these two types of signal from the same neuron might act together remains largely obscure. For example, serotonergic neurons in mammalian brain express the neuropeptide Substance P, but it is unclear how this co-released neuropeptide might modulate serotonin signaling. We studied this issue in C. elegans, in which all serotonergic neurons express the neuropeptide NLP-3. The serotonergic Hermaphrodite Specific Neurons (HSNs) are command motor neurons within the egg-laying circuit which have been shown to release serotonin to initiate egg-laying behavior. We found that egg-laying defects in animals lacking serotonin were far milder than in animals lacking HSNs, suggesting that HSNs must re

SUBMITTER: Brewer JC 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC6363226 | biostudies-literature | 2019 Jan

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature