Comparative single-cell transcriptomics of complete insect nervous systems
Ontology highlight
ABSTRACT:
ORGANISM(S): Drosophila melanogaster
PROVIDER: GSE135810 | GEO | 2020/02/07
REPOSITORIES: GEO
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Project description:Alternative pre-mRNA splicing (AS) is a critical regulatory mechanism that operates extensively in the nervous system to produce diverse protein isoforms. Fruitless AS isoforms have been shown to influence male courtship behavior, but the underlying mechanisms are unknown. Using genome-wide approaches and quantitative behavioral assays, we show that the P element somatic inhibitor (PSI) and its interaction with U1 snRNP control male courtship behavior. PSI mutants lacking the U1 snRNP-interacting domain (PSIΔAB mutant) exhibit extended but futile mating attempts. The PSIΔAB mutant results in significant changes in the AS patterns of ~1,200 genes in the Drosophila brain, many of which have been implicated in the regulation of male courtship behavior. PSI directly regulates the AS of at least a third of these transcripts, suggesting that PSI-U1 snRNP interactions coordinate the behavioral network underlying courtship behavior. Importantly, one of these direct targets is fruitless — the master regulator of courtship. Thus, PSI imposes a specific mode of regulatory control within the neuronal circuit controlling courtship, even though it is broadly expressed in the fly nervous system. This study reinforces the importance of AS in the control of gene activity in neurons and integrated neuronal circuits, and provides a surprising link between a pleiotropic pre-mRNA splicing pathway and the precise control of successful male mating behavior.
2016-04-30 | GSE79916 | GEO
Project description:During their lifetime, animals must adapt their behavior to survive in changing environments. This ability requires the nervous system to adjust through dynamic expression of neurotransmitters and receptors but also through growth, spatial reorganization and connectivity while integrating external stimuli. For instance, despite having a fixed neuronal cell lineage, the nematode Caenorhabditis elegans’ nervous system remains plastic throughout its development. Here, we focus on a specific example of nervous system plasticity, the C. elegans dauer exit decision. Under unfavorable conditions, larvae will enter the non-feeding and non-reproductive dauer stage and adapt their behavior to cope with a new environment. Upon improved conditions, this stress resistant developmental stage is actively reversed to resume reproductive development. However, how different environmental stimuli regulate the exit decision mechanism and thereby drive the larva’s behavioral change is unknown. To fill this gap, we developed a new open hardware method for long-term imaging (12h) of C.elegans larvae. We identified dauer-specific behavioral motifs and characterized the behavioral trajectory of dauer exit in different environments to identify key decision points. Combining long-term behavioral imaging with transcriptomics, we find that bacterial ingestion triggers a change in neuropeptide gene expression to establish post-dauer behavior. Taken together, we show how a developing nervous system can robustly integrate environmental changes, activate a developmental switch and adapt the organism’s behavior to a new environment.
2022-09-29 | GSE214208 | GEO
Project description:The enteric nervous system (ENS) can control most essential gut functions owing to its organization into complete neural circuits consisting of a multitude of different neuronal subtypes. We used microarrays to identify transcription factor networks and signaling pathways involved in diversification and differentiation of enteric neurons during development of the enteric nervous system.
2017-12-05 | GSE100130 | GEO
Project description:Interleukin 17a (IL-17a) is a cytokine that has been highly conserved during evolution of the vertebrate immune system and widely studied in contexts of infection and autoimmunity. Recent studies in mouse models of maternal immune activation suggest that IL-17a is also linked to behavioral changes reminiscent of those seen under pathological conditions such as autism spectrum disorders (ASD)1 and in aggregation behavior in Caenorhabditis elegans2, raising the intriguing possibility that this cytokine might have evolved for the homeostatic regulation of neuronal activity. Here, by in-depth cellular and molecular characterization of a unique population of meningeal-resident gd17 T cells, we characterized the nearest central nervous system (CNS)-associated source of IL-17a under homeostasis. Meningeal gd T cell-derived IL-17a was associated with anxiety-like behaviors in mice, which partially depended on T-cell receptor engagement and commensal microbiota. IL-17a receptor was highly expressed in glutamatergic neurons under steady state and its genetic deletion decreased anxiety-like behavior in mice by shaping the transcriptional landscape and synaptic transmission of neurons in the medial prefrontal cortex (mPFC). From an evolutionary perspective, these findings suggest that IL-17a production by tissue-resident meningeal gd17 T cells may represent an evolutionary bridge between conserved anti-pathogen molecules and avoidance/survival behavioral traits in vertebrates.
2020-07-24 | GSE147261 | GEO
Project description:Interleukin 17a (IL-17a) is a cytokine that has been highly conserved during evolution of the vertebrate immune system and widely studied in contexts of infection and autoimmunity. Recent studies in mouse models of maternal immune activation suggest that IL-17a is also linked to behavioral changes reminiscent of those seen under pathological conditions such as autism spectrum disorders (ASD)1 and in aggregation behavior in Caenorhabditis elegans2, raising the intriguing possibility that this cytokine might have evolved for the homeostatic regulation of neuronal activity. Here, by in-depth cellular and molecular characterization of a unique population of meningeal-resident gd17 T cells, we characterized the nearest central nervous system (CNS)-associated source of IL-17a under homeostasis. Meningeal gd T cell-derived IL-17a was associated with anxiety-like behaviors in mice, which partially depended on T-cell receptor engagement and commensal microbiota. IL-17a receptor was highly expressed in glutamatergic neurons under steady state and its genetic deletion decreased anxiety-like behavior in mice by shaping the transcriptional landscape and synaptic transmission of neurons in the medial prefrontal cortex (mPFC). From an evolutionary perspective, these findings suggest that IL-17a production by tissue-resident meningeal gd17 T cells may represent an evolutionary bridge between conserved anti-pathogen molecules and avoidance/survival behavioral traits in vertebrates.
2020-07-24 | GSE147260 | GEO
Project description:The sensation of hunger after a period of fasting and the sensation of satiety after eating is crucial to behavioral regulation of food intake, but the biological mechanisms regulating these sensations are incompletely understood. We studied the behavioral and physiological adaptation to fasting in the vinegar fly (Drosophila melanogaster). Here we show that flies demonstrated increased behavioral attraction to food odor when food-deprived with no corresponding increase in sensitivity in the peripheral olfactory system. Flies increased their food intake transiently in the post-fasted state, but returned to a stable baseline feeding level within 24 hr after return to food. This modulation in feeding was accompanied by a significant increase in the size of the crop organ of the digestive system, suggesting that fasted flies responded both by increasing their food intake and storing reserve food in their crop. The post-fasting feeding response was observed in both male and female flies of diverse genetic backgrounds. Expression profiling of head, body, and chemosensory tissues by microarray analysis revealed several hundred genes that are regulated by feeding state, including 247 genes in the fly head. We performed RNA interference-mediated knockdown of, takeout, one of the genes strongly downregulated by fasting in multiple tissues. When takeout was knocked down in all neurons the post-fasting feeding response was abolished. These observations suggest that a coordinated transcriptional response to internal physiological state may regulate both ingestive behaviors and chemosensory perception of food 6 Pool of flies were used for this experiment. For each pool, samples were taken at 0,24 and 48h and separated in each body part. 56 samples were used for the analysis.
2011-09-23 | E-GEOD-27927 | biostudies-arrayexpress
Project description:Background: With its fully sequenced genome and simple, well-defined nervous system, the nematode C. elegans offers a unique opportunity to correlate gene expression with neuronal differentiation. The lineal origin, cellular morphology and synaptic connectivity of each of the 302 neurons are known. In many instances, specific behaviors can be attributed to particular neurons or circuits. Here we describe microarray-based methods that monitor gene expression in C. elegans neurons and thereby link comprehensive profiles of neuronal transcription to key developmental and functional attributes of the nervous system. Results: We employed complementary microarray-based strategies to profile gene expression in the embryonic and larval nervous systems. In the MAPCeL (Micro-Array Profiling C. elegans Cells) method, we used Fluorescence Activated Cell Sorting (FACS) to isolate GFP-tagged embryonic neurons for microarray analysis. To profile the larval nervous system, we used the mRNA-tagging technique in which an epitope-labeled mRNA binding protein (FLAG-PAB-1) was transgenically expressed in neurons for immunoprecipitation of cell-specific transcripts. These combined approaches identified approximately 2,500 mRNAs that are highly enriched in either the embryonic or larval C. elegans nervous system. These data are validated in part by the detection of gene classes (e.g. transcription factors, ion channels, synaptic vesicle components) with established roles in neuronal development or function. In addition to utilizing these profiling approaches to define stage specific gene expression, we also applied the mRNA-tagging method to fingerprint a specific neuron type, the A-class group of cholinergic motor neurons, during early larval development. A comparison of these data to a MAPCeL profile of embryonic A-class motor neurons identified genes with common functions in both types of A-class motor neurons as well as transcripts with roles specific to each motor neuron type. Conclusion: We describe microarray-based strategies for generating expression profiles of embryonic and larval C. elegans neurons. These methods can be applied to particular neurons at specific developmental stages and therefore provide an unprecedented opportunity to obtain spatially and temporally defined snapshots of gene expression in a simple model nervous system. Experiment Overall Design: Our goal is to profile gene expression throughout the nervous system of the model organism Caenorhabditis elegans. As a first goal, we profiled the entire nervous system at two developmental timepoints. To isolate transcripts from embryonic neurons we employed the MAPCeL (Microarray Profiling C. elegans Cells) technique in which pan-neuronal GFP+ cells are captured by FACS for RNA isolation. Since postembryonic cells are unattainable via this method, we used mRNA-tagging to isolated pan-neural RNAs from larval animals. In short, an epitope tagged poly-A binding protein (FLAG-PAB-1) was driven in all neurons using the F25B3.3 promoter. Following formaldehyde cross-linking, animals were passed through a French press and Dounce homogenized to isolate a cell-free extract. Anti-FLAG antibodies were incubated with the cell-free extract to capture FLAG-PAB bound RNAs. After elution and reversal of the crosslinks, RNAs are isolated by TriZOL extraction. We also identified transcripts enriched in a subset of C. elegans larval neurons, the A-class neurons (using unc-4::3xFLAG::PAB-1). Experiment Overall Design: 3 sets of experiments normalized separately by RMA Experiment Overall Design: larval references of sets 2 and 3 originate from the same hybridizations (accompanying CEL files are identical)
2008-06-15 | E-GEOD-8004 | biostudies-arrayexpress
Project description:The sympathetic and parasympathetic nervous systems regulate the activities of internal organs, but the molecular and functional diversity of their constituent neurons and circuits remains largely unknown. Here we use retrograde neuronal tracing, single-cell RNA sequencing, optogenetics and physiological experiments to dissect the cardiac parasympathetic control circuit in mice. We show that cardiac-innervating neurons in the brainstem nucleus ambiguus (Amb) are comprised of two molecularly, anatomically and functionally distinct subtypes. The first, which we call ambiguus cardiovascular (ACV) neurons (approximately 35 neurons per Amb), define the classical cardiac parasympathetic circuit. They selectively innervate a subset of cardiac parasympathetic ganglion neurons and mediate the baroreceptor reflex, slowing heart rate and atrioventricular node conduction in response to increased blood pressure. The other, ambiguus cardiopulmonary (ACP) neurons (approximately 15 neurons per Amb) innervate cardiac ganglion neurons intermingled with and functionally indistinguishable from those innervated by ACV neurons. ACP neurons also innervate most or all lung parasympathetic ganglion neurons—clonal labelling shows that individual ACP neurons innervate both organs. ACP neurons mediate the dive reflex, the simultaneous bradycardia and bronchoconstriction that follows water immersion. Thus, parasympathetic control of the heart is organized into two parallel circuits, one that selectively controls cardiac function (ACV circuit) and another that coordinates cardiac and pulmonary function (ACP circuit). This new understanding of cardiac control has implications for treating cardiac and pulmonary diseases and for elucidating the control and coordination circuits of other organs.
2022-05-28 | GSE198709 | GEO
Project description:Parallel processing circuits are thought to dramatically expand the network capabilities of the nervous system. Magnocellular and parvocellular oxytocin neurons have been proposed to subserve two parallel streams of social information processing, which allow a single molecule to encode a diverse array of ethologically distinct behaviors, although to date direct evidence to support this hypothesis is lacking. Here we provide the first comprehensive characterization of magnocellular and parvocellular oxytocin neurons, validated across anatomical, projection target, electrophysiological, and transcriptional criteria. We next used novel multiple feature selection tools in Fmr1 KO mice to provide direct evidence that normal functioning of the parvocellular but not magnocellular oxytocin pathway is required for autism-relevant social reward behavior. Finally, we demonstrate that autism risk genes are uniquely enriched in parvocellular oxytocin neurons. Taken together these results provide the first evidence that oxytocin pathway specific pathogenic mechanisms account for social impairments across a broad range of autism etiologies.
2020-03-18 | GSE147092 | GEO
Project description:In Drosophila,male courtship behaviour serves as an excellent paradigm to study how innate behaviors are controlled by the nervous system. These behaviors are in large part regulated by the gene fruitless (fru). fru encodes a set of putative transcription factors that promote male sexual behaior by controlling the development of sexually-dimorphic neuronal circuitry. Little is known about how Fru proteins function at the level of transcriptional regulation. To characterize the roles of fru sex-specific isoforms in specifying male behavior, we generated novel isoform-specific mutants, and used a genomic approach to identify direct Fru isoform targets during development. We demonstrate that all Fru isoforms directly target genes involved in the development of the nervous system, with individual isoforms exhibiting unique binding specificities. We observe that fru behavioral phenotypes are specificed by either a single, or combination, of isoforms. Finally, we illustrate the utility of these data for the identification of novel sexually dimorphic genoic enhancers, and novel downstream regulators of male-sexual behavior. 3 replicates per condition, one dye swap; per condition: one control, one experimental per replicate. No processed data for GSM1261882 and GSM1261883 are available.
2014-01-16 | E-GEOD-52247 | biostudies-arrayexpress