PubMed ID
20027309
UMMS Affiliation
Department of Neurobiology
Date
12-23-2009
Document Type
Article
Subjects
Aging; Animals; Axons; Biological Markers; Drosophila Proteins; Drosophila melanogaster; Gene Knockdown Techniques; Gene Silencing; MicroRNAs; Morphogenesis; Mushroom Bodies; Phenotype; Receptors, Cytoplasmic and Nuclear
Disciplines
Life Sciences | Medicine and Health Sciences | Neuroscience and Neurobiology
Abstract
Nuclear receptors (NRs) comprise a family of ligand-regulated transcription factors that control diverse critical biological processes including various aspects of brain development. Eighteen NR genes exist in the Drosophila genome. To explore their roles in brain development, we knocked down individual NRs through the development of the mushroom bodies (MBs) by targeted RNAi. Besides recapitulating the known MB phenotypes for three NRs, we found that unfulfilled (unf), an ortholog of human photoreceptor specific nuclear receptor (PNR), regulates axonal morphogenesis and neuronal subtype identity. The adult MBs develop through remodeling of gamma neurons plus de-novo elaboration of both alpha'/beta' and alpha/beta neurons. Notably, unf is largely dispensable for the initial elaboration of gamma neurons, but plays an essential role in their re-extension of axons after pruning during early metamorphosis. The subsequently derived MB neuron types also require unf for extension of axons beyond the terminus of the pruned bundle. Tracing single axons revealed misrouting rather than simple truncation. Further, silencing unf in single-cell clones elicited misguidance of axons in otherwise unperturbed MBs. Such axon guidance defects may occur as MB neurons partially lose their subtype identity, as evidenced by suppression of various MB subtype markers in unf knockdown MBs. In sum, unf governs axonal morphogenesis of multiple MB neuron types, possibly through regulating neuronal subtype identity.
Rights and Permissions
Citation: Lin S, Huang Y, Lee T (2009) Nuclear Receptor Unfulfilled Regulates Axonal Guidance and Cell Identity of Drosophila Mushroom Body Neurons. PLoS ONE 4(12): e8392. doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0008392. Link to article on publisher's site
Comments
Co-author Suewei Lin is a student in the Neuroscience program in the Graduate School of Biomedical Sciences (GSBS) at UMass Medical School.