Browsing by Subject "Drosophila melanogaster"

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    Direction Selectivity in Drosophila Proprioceptors Requires the Mechanosensory Channel Tmc
    (Elsevier, 2019-03-18) He, Liping; Gulyanon, Sarun; Mihovilovic Skanata, Mirna; Karagyozov, Doycho; Heckscher, Ellie S.; Krieg, Michael; Tsechpenakis, Gavriil; Gershow, Marc; Tracey, W. Daniel; Department of Computer and Information sciences, School of Science
    Summary Drosophila Transmembrane channel-like (Tmc) is a protein that functions in larval proprioception. The closely related TMC1 protein is required for mammalian hearing and is a pore-forming subunit of the hair cell mechanotransduction channel. In hair cells, TMC1 is gated by small deflections of microvilli that produce tension on extracellular tip-links that connect adjacent villi. How Tmc might be gated in larval proprioceptors, which are neurons having a morphology that is completely distinct from hair cells, is unknown. Here, we have used high-speed confocal microscopy both to measure displacements of proprioceptive sensory dendrites during larval movement and to optically measure neural activity of the moving proprioceptors. Unexpectedly, the pattern of dendrite deformation for distinct neurons was unique and differed depending on the direction of locomotion: ddaE neuron dendrites were strongly curved by forward locomotion, while the dendrites of ddaD were more strongly deformed by backward locomotion. Furthermore, GCaMP6f calcium signals recorded in the proprioceptive neurons during locomotion indicated tuning to the direction of movement. ddaE showed strong activation during forward locomotion, while ddaD showed responses that were strongest during backward locomotion. Peripheral proprioceptive neurons in animals mutant for Tmc showed a near-complete loss of movement related calcium signals. As the strength of the responses of wild-type animals was correlated with dendrite curvature, we propose that Tmc channels may be activated by membrane curvature in dendrites that are exposed to strain. Our findings begin to explain how distinct cellular systems rely on a common molecular pathway for mechanosensory responses.
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    Genetic architecture of subcortical brain structures in 38,851 individuals
    (Nature, 2019-11) Satizabal, Claudia L.; Adams, Hieab H. H.; Hibar, Derrek P.; White, Charles C.; Knol, Maria J.; Stein, Jason L.; Scholz, Markus; Sargurupremraj, Muralidharan; Jahanshad, Neda; Roshchupkin, Gennady V.; Smith, Albert V.; Bis, Joshua C.; Jian, Xueqiu; Luciano, Michelle; Hofer, Edith; Teumer, Alexander; van der Lee, Sven J.; Yang, Jingyun; Yanek, Lisa R.; Lee, Tom V.; Li, Shuo; Hu, Yanhui; Koh, Jia Yu; Eicher, John D.; Desrivières, Sylvane; Arias-Vasquez, Alejandro; Chauhan, Ganesh; Athanasiu, Lavinia; Rentería, Miguel E.; Kim, Sungeun; Hoehn, David; Armstrong, Nicola J.; Chen, Qiang; Holmes, Avram J.; den Braber, Anouk; Kloszewska, Iwona; Andersson, Micael; Espeseth, Thomas; Grimm, Oliver; Abramovic, Lucija; Alhusaini, Saud; Milaneschi, Yuri; Papmeyer, Martina; Axelsson, Tomas; Ehrlich, Stefan; Roiz-Santiañez, Roberto; Kraemer, Bernd; Håberg, Asta K.; Jones, Hannah J.; Pike, G. Bruce; Stein, Dan J.; Stevens, Allison; Bralten, Janita; Vernooij, Meike W.; Harris, Tamara B.; Filippi, Irina; Witte, A. Veronica; Guadalupe, Tulio; Wittfeld, Katharina; Mosley, Thomas H.; Becker, James T.; Doan, Nhat Trung; Hagenaars, Saskia P.; Saba, Yasaman; Cuellar-Partida, Gabriel; Amin, Najaf; Hilal, Saima; Nho, Kwangsik; Mirza-Schreiber, Nazanin; Arfanakis, Konstantinos; Becker, Diane M.; Ames, David; Goldman, Aaron L.; Lee, Phil H.; Boomsma, Dorret I.; Lovestone, Simon; Giddaluru, Sudheer; Le Hellard, Stephanie; Mattheisen, Manuel; Bohlken, Marc M.; Kasperaviciute, Dalia; Schmaal, Lianne; Lawrie, Stephen M.; Agartz, Ingrid; Walton, Esther; Tordesillas-Gutierrez, Diana; Davies, Gareth E.; Shin, Jean; Ipser, Jonathan C.; Vinke, Louis N.; Hoogman, Martine; Jia, Tianye; Burkhardt, Ralph; Klein, Marieke; Crivello, Fabrice; Janowitz, Deborah; Carmichael, Owen; Haukvik, Unn K.; Aribisala, Benjamin S.; Schmidt, Helena; Strike, Lachlan T.; Cheng, Ching-Yu; Risacher, Shannon L.; Pütz, Benno; Fleischman, Debra A.; Assareh, Amelia A.; Mattay, Venkata S.; Buckner, Randy L.; Mecocci, Patrizia; Dale, Anders M.; Cichon, Sven; Boks, Marco P.; Matarin, Mar; Penninx, Brenda W. J. H.; Calhoun, Vince D.; Chakravarty, M. Mallar; Marquand, Andre F.; Macare, Christine; Kharabian Masouleh, Shahrzad; Oosterlaan, Jaap; Amouyel, Philippe; Hegenscheid, Katrin; Rotter, Jerome I.; Schork, Andrew J.; Liewald, David C. M.; de Zubicaray, Greig I.; Wong, Tien Yin; Shen, Li; Sämann, Philipp G.; Brodaty, Henry; Roffman, Joshua L.; de Geus, Eco J. C.; Tsolaki, Magda; Erk, Susanne; van Eijk, Kristel R.; Cavalleri, Gianpiero L.; van der Wee, Nic J. A.; McIntosh, Andrew M.; Gollub, Randy L.; Bulayeva, Kazima B.; Bernard, Manon; Richards, Jennifer S.; Himali, Jayandra J.; Loeffler, Markus; Rommelse, Nanda; Hoffmann, Wolfgang; Westlye, Lars T.; Valdés Hernández, Maria C.; Hansell, Narelle K.; van Erp, Theo G. M.; Wolf, Christiane; Kwok, John B. J.; Vellas, Bruno; Heinz, Andreas; Olde Loohuis, Loes M.; Delanty, Norman; Ho, Beng-Choon; Ching, Christopher R. K.; Shumskaya, Elena; Singh, Baljeet; Hofman, Albert; van der Meer, Dennis; Homuth, Georg; Psaty, Bruce M.; Bastin, Mark E.; Montgomery, Grant W.; Foroud, Tatiana M.; Reppermund, Simone; Hottenga, Jouke-Jan; Simmons, Andrew; Meyer-Lindenberg, Andreas; Cahn, Wiepke; Whelan, Christopher D.; van Donkelaar, Marjolein M. J.; Yang, Qiong; Hosten, Norbert; Green, Robert C; Thalamuthu, Anbupalam; Mohnke, Sebastian; Hulshoff Pol, Hilleke E.; Lin, Honghuang; Jack, Clifford R.; Schofield, Peter R.; Mühleisen, Thomas W.; Maillard, Pauline; Potkin, Steven G.; Wen, Wei; Fletcher, Evan; Toga, Arthur W.; Gruber, Oliver; Huentelman, Matthew; Davey Smith, George; Launer, Lenore J.; Nyberg, Lars; Jönsson, Erik G.; Crespo-Facorro, Benedicto; Koen, Nastassja; Greve, Douglas N.; Uitterlinden, André G.; Weinberger, Daniel R.; Steen, Vidar M.; Fedko, Iryna O.; Groenewold, Nynke A.; Niessen, Wiro J.; Toro, Roberto; Tzourio, Christophe; Longstreth, William T.; Ikram, M. Kamran; Smoller, Jordan W.; van Tol, Marie-Jose; Sussmann, Jessika E.; Paus, Tomas; Lemaître, Hervé; Schroeter, Matthias L.; Mazoyer, Bernard; Andreassen, Ole A.; Holsboer, Florian; Depondt, Chantal; Veltman, Dick J.; Turner, Jessica A.; Pausova, Zdenka; Schumann, Gunter; van Rooij, Daan; Djurovic, Srdjan; Deary, Ian J.; McMahon, Katie L.; Müller-Myhsok, Bertram; Brouwer, Rachel M.; Soininen, Hilkka; Pandolfo, Massimo; Wassink, Thomas H.; Cheung, Joshua W.; Wolfers, Thomas; Martinot, Jean-Luc; Zwiers, Marcel P.; Nauck, Matthias; Melle, Ingrid; Martin, Nicholas G.; Kanai, Ryota; Westman, Eric; Kahn, René S.; Sisodiya, Sanjay M.; White, Tonya; Saremi, Arvin; van Bokhoven, Hans; Brunner, Han G.; Völzke, Henry; Wright, Margaret J.; van ‘t Ent, Dennis; Nöthen, Markus M.; Ophoff, Roel A.; Buitelaar, Jan K.; Fernández, Guillén; Sachdev, Perminder S.; Rietschel, Marcella; van Haren, Neeltje E. M.; Fisher, Simon E.; Beiser, Alexa S.; Francks, Clyde; Saykin, Andrew J.; Mather, Karen A.; Romanczuk-Seiferth, Nina; Hartman, Catharina A.; DeStefano, Anita L.; Heslenfeld, Dirk J.; Weiner, Michael W.; Walter, Henrik; Hoekstra, Pieter J.; Nyquist, Paul A.; Franke, Barbara; Bennett, David A.; Grabe, Hans J.; Johnson, Andrew D.; Chen, Christopher; van Duijn, Cornelia M.; Lopez, Oscar L.; Fornage, Myriam; Wardlaw, Joanna M.; Schmidt, Reinhold; DeCarli, Charles; De Jager, Philip L.; Villringer, Arno; Debette, Stéphanie; Gudnason, Vilmundur; Medland, Sarah E.; Shulman, Joshua M.; Thompson, Paul M.; Seshadri, Sudha; Ikram, M. Arfan; Medical and Molecular Genetics, School of Medicine
    Subcortical brain structures are integral to motion, consciousness, emotions and learning. We identified common genetic variation related to the volumes of the nucleus accumbens, amygdala, brainstem, caudate nucleus, globus pallidus, putamen and thalamus, using genome-wide association analyses in almost 40,000 individuals from CHARGE, ENIGMA and UK Biobank. We show that variability in subcortical volumes is heritable, and identify 48 significantly associated loci (40 novel at the time of analysis). Annotation of these loci by utilizing gene expression, methylation and neuropathological data identified 199 genes putatively implicated in neurodevelopment, synaptic signaling, axonal transport, apoptosis, inflammation/infection and susceptibility to neurological disorders. This set of genes is significantly enriched for Drosophila orthologs associated with neurodevelopmental phenotypes, suggesting evolutionarily conserved mechanisms. Our findings uncover novel biology and potential drug targets underlying brain development and disease.
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    Identification of Aedes aegypti cis-regulatory elements that promote gene expression in olfactory receptor neurons of distantly related dipteran insects
    (BMC, 2018-07-11) Mysore, Keshava; Li, Ping; Duman-Scheel, Molly; Medical and Molecular Genetics, School of Medicine
    BACKGROUND: Sophisticated tools for manipulation of gene expression in select neurons, including neurons that regulate sexually dimorphic behaviors, are increasingly available for analysis of genetic model organisms. However, we lack comparable genetic tools for analysis of non-model organisms, including Aedes aegypti, a vector mosquito which displays sexually dimorphic behaviors that contribute to pathogen transmission. Formaldehyde-assisted isolation of regulatory elements followed by sequencing (FAIRE-seq) recently facilitated genome-wide discovery of putative A. aegypti cis-regulatory elements (CREs), many of which could be used to manipulate gene expression in mosquito neurons and other tissues. The goal of this investigation was to identify FAIRE DNA elements that promote gene expression in the olfactory system, a tissue of vector importance. RESULTS: Eight A. aegypti CREs that promote gene expression in antennal olfactory receptor neurons (ORNs) were identified in a Drosophila melanogaster transgenic reporter screen. Four CREs identified in the screen were cloned upstream of GAL4 in a transgenic construct that is compatible with transformation of a variety of insect species. These constructs, which contained FAIRE DNA elements associated with the A. aegypti odorant coreceptor (orco), odorant receptor 1 (Or1), odorant receptor 8 (Or8) and fruitless (fru) genes, were used for transformation of A. aegypti. Six A. aegypti strains, including strains displaying transgene expression in all ORNs, subsets of these neurons, or in a sex-specific fashion, were isolated. The CREs drove transgene expression in A. aegypti that corresponded to endogenous gene expression patterns of the orco, Or1, Or8 and fru genes in the mosquito antenna. CRE activity in A. aegypti was found to be comparable to that observed in D. melanogaster reporter assays. CONCLUSIONS: These results provide further evidence that FAIRE-seq, which can be paired with D. melanogaster reporter screening to test FAIRE DNA element activity in select tissues, is a useful method for identification of mosquito cis-regulatory elements. These findings expand the genetic toolkit available for the study of Aedes neurobiology. Moreover, given that the CREs drive comparable olfactory neural expression in both A. aegypti and D. melanogaster, it is likely that they may function similarly in multiple dipteran insects, including other disease vector mosquito species.
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    Requirement for commissureless2 function during dipteran insect nerve cord development
    (Wiley, 2013-12) Sarro, Joseph; Andrews, Emily; Sun, Longhua; Behura, Susanta K.; Tan, John C.; Zeng, Erliang; Severson, David W.; Duman-Scheel, Molly; Medical & Molecular Genetics, School of Medicine
    BACKGROUND: In Drosophila melanogaster, commissureless (comm) function is required for proper nerve cord development. Although comm orthologs have not been identified outside of Drosophila species, some insects possess orthologs of Drosophila comm2, which may also regulate embryonic nerve cord development. Here, this hypothesis is explored through characterization of comm2 genes in two disease vector mosquitoes. RESULTS: Culex quinquefasciatus (West Nile and lymphatic filiariasis vector) has three comm2 genes that are expressed in the developing nerve cord. Aedes aegypti (dengue and yellow fever vector) has a single comm2 gene that is expressed in commissural neurons projecting axons toward the midline. Loss of comm2 function in both A. aegypti and D. melanogaster was found to result in loss of commissure defects that phenocopy the frazzled (fra) loss of function phenotypes observed in both species. Loss of fra function in either insect was found to result in decreased comm2 transcript levels during nerve cord development. CONCLUSIONS: The results of this investigation suggest that Fra down-regulates repulsion in precrossing commissural axons by regulating comm2 levels in both A. aegypti and D. melanogaster, both of which require Comm2 function for proper nerve cord development.