Article
Biology
Maxwell L. Zhu, Kristian J. Herrera, Katrin Vogt, Armin Bahl
Summary: The researchers developed a novel closed-loop phototaxis assay for Drosophila larvae to study their navigation behavior in light gradients. They found that larvae are able to find preferred areas of low light intensity during runs, even when relying on temporal cues. Further analysis revealed that larvae turn more frequently and change heading angles more when experiencing brightness increments over extended periods of time, suggesting that temporal integration of brightness change is an important element of phototaxis.
JOURNAL OF EXPERIMENTAL BIOLOGY
(2021)
Article
Neurosciences
Yi Zhang, Yihao Zhang, Cong Shen, Shun Hao, Wenlan Duan, Li Liu, Hongying Wei
Summary: This study investigates the effects of ionizing radiation on neurotransmitter-evoked responses in Drosophila larvae. It is found that ionizing radiation alters the responses to neurotransmitters, indicating that synapses are vulnerable targets of radiation. These findings provide new insights for preventive therapeutic interventions to reduce neurological deficits after radiation therapy.
FRONTIERS IN CELLULAR NEUROSCIENCE
(2023)
Article
Multidisciplinary Sciences
Hui-Hao Lin, Meihua Christina Kuang, Imran Hossain, Yinan Xuan, Laura Beebe, Andrew K. Shepherd, Marco Rolandi, Jing W. Wang
Summary: This study explores the molecular and neuronal mechanisms underlying the transition from feeding to courtship in Drosophila melanogaster. The results show that feeding is prioritized over courtship in starved males, but the consumption of protein-rich food rapidly reverses this order. A gut-derived neuropeptide hormone called Diuretic hormone 31 (Dh31) plays a role in switching from feeding to courtship. The findings also reveal that Dh31 stimulates specific brain neurons through the circulation, leading to the prioritization of courtship over feeding through parallel pathways.
Article
Neurosciences
Baojin Ding, Yu Tang, Shuaipeng Ma, Masuma Akter, Meng-Lu Liu, Tong Zang, Chun-Li Zhang
Summary: DYT1 dystonia is a hereditary neurologic movement disorder caused by a mutation in the TOR1A gene encoding an ATPase. Modeling the disease using patient-specific neurons revealed that dysregulation of the nuclear lamina protein LMNB1 could be a major molecular mechanism underlying DYT1 pathology.
JOURNAL OF NEUROSCIENCE
(2021)
Article
Biology
Dan Landayan, Brian P. Wang, Jennifer Zhou, Fred W. Wolf
Summary: Two central brain interneurons, Janu-GABA and Janu-AstA, regulate thirsty water seeking behavior in Drosophila. These neurons coordinate internal state drives to selectively control motivated seeking behavior.
Article
Multidisciplinary Sciences
Silvan Huerkey, Nelson Niemeyer, Jan-Hendrik Schleimer, Stefanie Ryglewski, Susanne Schreiber, Carsten Duch
Summary: This study identifies a miniaturized circuit solution for the central-pattern-generating (CPG) neural network underlying insect asynchronous flight. The network consists of motoneurons interconnected by electrical synapses that produce network activity splayed out in time instead of synchronized across neurons. This mechanism translates unpatterned premotor input into stereotyped neuronal firing with fixed sequences of cell activation, ensuring stable wingbeat power and is conserved across multiple species.
Article
Multidisciplinary Sciences
Sonali A. Deshpande, Ethan W. Rohrbach, James D. Asuncion, Jenna Harrigan, Aditya Eamani, Ellery H. Schlingmann, Daniel J. Suto, Pei-Tseng Lee, Felix E. Schweizer, Hugo J. Bellen, David E. Krantz
Summary: Octopamine plays an essential role in egg-laying in Drosophila melanogaster. This study identifies two octopamine receptors, Oct beta 2 and OAMB, that regulate oviduct contraction and relaxation, respectively. The interaction with glutamatergic pathways modifies the effects of octopamine, suggesting a possible mechanism for lateral oviduct contractions. The aminergic pathways in the oviposition circuit may be comparable to those that regulate visceral muscle contractility in mammals.
Article
Biochemistry & Molecular Biology
Tony X. Liu, Pasha A. Davoudian, Kristyn M. Lizbinski, James M. Jeanne
Summary: Connectomes generated from electron microscopy images of neural tissue can reveal the complex morphology and synaptic locations in a neural network. Research has shown that the density and location of synapses can predict the amplitude of postsynaptic potentials. Biophysical models predict that electrical compartmentalization allows for balanced computations between axon and dendritic arbors.
Article
Neurosciences
Varoth Lilascharoen, Eric Hou-Jen Wang, Nam Do, Stefan Carl Pate, Amanda Ngoc Tran, Christopher Dabin Yoon, Jun-Hyeok Choi, Xiao-Yun Wang, Horia Pribiag, Young-Gyun Park, Kwanghun Chung, Byung Kook Lim
Summary: The study investigates the functional roles of distinct GPe-PV neuronal populations in controlling behaviors such as locomotion and reversal learning, and reveals their different contributions to various PD-related behaviors.
NATURE NEUROSCIENCE
(2021)
Article
Biology
Yu-Ling Lin, Zhu-Sen Yang, Wai-Yi Wong, Shih-Che Lin, Shuu-Jiun Wang, Shih-Pin Chen, Jen-Kun Cheng, Hui Lu, Cheng-Chang Lien
Summary: This study investigates the cellular and synaptic alterations in the central nucleus of the amygdala (CeA) in a mouse model of chronic muscle pain. They found that targeting the somatostatin-expressing CeA (CeA-SST) neurons during the priming phase can prevent the development of chronic pain. Furthermore, they discovered that the CeA-SST neurons have increased excitatory synaptic drive and enhanced neuronal excitability in the chronic pain states. Chemogenetic inactivation of these neurons or suppression of nociceptive afferents from the brainstem to the CeA-SST neurons can alleviate chronic pain and anxiety-depressive symptoms.
Article
Multidisciplinary Sciences
Huee Ru Chong, Yadollah Ranjbar-Slamloo, Malcolm Zheng Hao Ho, Xuan Ouyang, Tsukasa Kamigaki
Summary: This study investigates the impact of aging on the circuit-level computations underlying executive function. The researchers found that the ability of the medial prefrontal cortex (mPFC) in mice to code for working memory declines as early as middle age. They observed that crossmodal coding diminishes while modality-dependent coding persists in middle age, and both types of coding decay in advanced age. Additionally, resting-state functional connectivity among memory-coding neurons decreases already in middle age, suggesting deteriorated recurrent circuits for memory maintenance. The findings highlight the functional alterations of the prefrontal circuit that occur during middle age and deteriorate further with cognitive aging.
NATURE COMMUNICATIONS
(2023)
Article
Multidisciplinary Sciences
Atsuki Hiramoto, Julius Jonaitis, Sawako Niki, Hiroshi Kohsaka, Richard D. Fetter, Albert Cardona, Stefan R. Pulver, Akinao Nose
Summary: Patterned movements in animals involve combinations of muscle contraction and delayed relaxation, with a class of cholinergic higher-order premotor interneurons identified to regulate muscular relaxation during backward locomotion of Drosophila larvae.
NATURE COMMUNICATIONS
(2021)
Article
Neurosciences
Yu Wang, Xinxin Yin, Zhouzhou Zhang, Jiejue Li, Wenyu Zhao, Zengcai Guo
Summary: This study reveals that the cortico-basal ganglia-thalamo-cortical (CBTC) circuit in mice supports the formation of selective persistent activity, shedding light on the underlying mechanisms of short-term memory. Optogenetic activation or inactivation of the basal ganglia output nucleus substantia nigra pars reticulata (SNr)-to-thalamus pathway biased future licking choice, without affecting execution, indicating a crucial role in decision-making processes.
Article
Biochemistry & Molecular Biology
Chenghao Chen, Sweta Agrawal, Brandon Mark, Akira Mamiya, Anne Sustar, Jasper S. Phelps, Wei-Chung Allen Lee, Barry J. Dickson, Gwyneth M. Card, John C. Tuthill
Summary: In this study, different proprioceptor subtypes in the Drosophila leg are found to monitor joint position, movement direction, and vibration, with signals integrated and controlled by central proprioceptive circuits. The flow of sensory information is dynamically modulated by inhibition, revealing mechanisms for leg posture control and vibration sensing. The existence of parallel pathways for processing internal and external mechanosensory signals may play roles in feedback control of leg movement and vibration sensing, respectively, providing insights for interpreting connectomic reconstruction of neural circuits for leg proprioception.
Article
Biochemistry & Molecular Biology
Mark J. Wagner, Joan Savall, Oscar Hernandez, Gabriel Mel, Hakan Inan, Oleg Rumyantsev, Jerome Lecoq, Tony Hyun Kim, Jin Zhong Li, Charu Ramakrishnan, Karl Deisseroth, Liqun Luo, Surya Ganguli, Mark J. Schnitzer
Summary: Our study explored the transition from autonomous to coherent spiking in cerebellar Purkinje neurons during skilled movement in mice. As mice learned the task, consistent neural synchronization emerged, and optogenetic manipulations demonstrated the bi-directional modulation of reaching direction. These findings suggest that olivo-cerebellar circuits enter a synchronized state promoting motor coordination during learned movements.
Article
Multidisciplinary Sciences
Sebastian Hueckesfeld, Marc Peters, Michael J. Pankratz
NATURE COMMUNICATIONS
(2016)
Article
Biology
Philipp Schlegel, Michael J. Texada, Anton Miroschnikow, Andreas Schoofs, Sebastian Hueckesfeld, Marc Peters, Casey M. Schneider-Mizell, Haluk Lacin, Feng Li, Richard D. Fetter, James W. Truman, Albert Cardona, Michael J. Pankratz
Article
Biology
Maria J. Almeida-Carvalho, Dimitri Berh, Andreas Braun, Yi-chun Chen, Katharina Eichler, Claire Eschbach, Pauline M. J. Fritsch, Bertram Gerber, Nina Hoyer, Xiaoyi Jiang, Joerg Kleber, Christian Klaembt, Christian Koenig, Matthieu Louis, Birgit Michels, Anton Miroschnikow, Christen Mirth, Daisuke Miura, Thomas Niewalda, Nils Otto, Emmanouil Paisios, Michael J. Pankratz, Meike Petersen, Noel Ramsperger, Nadine Randel, Benjamin Risse, Timo Saumweber, Philipp Schlegel, Michael Schleyer, Peter Soba, Simon G. Sprecher, Teiichi Tanimura, Andreas S. Thum, Naoko Toshima, Jim W. Truman, Ayse Yarali, Marta Zlatic
JOURNAL OF EXPERIMENTAL BIOLOGY
(2017)
Article
Entomology
Walter Kaiser, Theo Weber, Dietmar Otto, Anton Miroschnikow
Article
Entomology
Andreas Schoofs, Sebastian Hueckesfeld, Sandya Surendran, Michael J. Pankratz
JOURNAL OF INSECT PHYSIOLOGY
(2014)
Article
Biochemistry & Molecular Biology
Andreas Schoofs, Sebastian Hueckesfeld, Philipp Schlegel, Anton Miroschnikow, Marc Peters, Malou Zeymer, Roland Spiess, Ann-Shyn Chiang, Michael J. Pankratz
Article
Biology
Anton Miroschnikow, Philipp Schlegel, Andreas Schoofs, Sebastian Hueckesfeld, Feng Li, Casey M. Schneider-Mizell, Richard D. Fetter, James W. Truman, Albert Cardona, Michael J. Pankratz
Article
Biology
Sebastian Hueckesfeld, Philipp Schlegel, Anton Miroschnikow, Andreas Schoofs, Ingo Zinke, Andre N. Haubrich, Casey M. Schneider-Mizell, James W. Truman, Richard D. Fetter, Albert Cardona, Michael J. Pankratz
Summary: In this study, using electron microscopy reconstruction, researchers revealed the sensory pathways and synaptic inputs provided by interneurons to neurosecretory cells in the central nervous system of Drosophila larvae. The findings identified a novel carbon dioxide-responsive network targeting specific neurosecretory cells expressing neuropeptides such as Crz and Dh44. The analysis uncovered a neuronal network architecture for combinatorial action based on sensory and interneuronal pathways converging onto distinct combinations of neuroendocrine outputs.
Article
Cell Biology
Yosuke Mizuno, Eisuke Imura, Yoshitomo Kurogi, Yuko Shimada-Niwa, Shu Kondo, Hiromu Tanimoto, Sebastian Hueckesfeld, Michael J. Pankratz, Ryusuke Niwa
Summary: The corpora allata (CA) are endocrine organs that synthesize juvenile hormone (JH) to regulate insect development. In insects like Drosophila melanogaster, neurons projecting to CA have been identified, but their role in JH biosynthesis remains unclear. This study on Drosophila found that hugin neurons projecting to CA have synaptic connections with upstream neurons, although inhibiting these neurons did not significantly impact JH-inducible gene expression.
DEVELOPMENT GROWTH & DIFFERENTIATION
(2021)