UMMS Affiliation
Department of Neurobiology; Alkema Lab; Francis Lab; Graduate School of Biomedical Sciences, Neuroscience Program
Publication Date
2018-07-24
Document Type
Article
Disciplines
Amino Acids, Peptides, and Proteins | Molecular and Cellular Neuroscience | Molecular Biology | Nervous System
Abstract
In neural circuits, individual neurons often make projections onto multiple postsynaptic partners. Here, we investigate molecular mechanisms by which these divergent connections are generated, using dyadic synapses in C. elegans as a model. We report that C. elegans nrx-1/neurexin directs divergent connectivity through differential actions at synapses with partnering neurons and muscles. We show that cholinergic outputs onto neurons are, unexpectedly, located at previously undefined spine-like protrusions from GABAergic dendrites. Both these spine-like features and cholinergic receptor clustering are strikingly disrupted in the absence of nrx-1. Excitatory transmission onto GABAergic neurons, but not neuromuscular transmission, is also disrupted. Our data indicate that NRX-1 located at presynaptic sites specifically directs postsynaptic development in GABAergic neurons. Our findings provide evidence that individual neurons can direct differential patterns of connectivity with their post-synaptic partners through partner-specific utilization of synaptic organizers, offering a novel view into molecular control of divergent connectivity.
Keywords
AChR, C. elegans, dendritic spine, neuroscience, neurotransmission, nicotinic acetylcholine receptor, synapse, synaptic divergence
Rights and Permissions
Copyright Philbrook et al. This article is distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use and redistribution provided that the original author and source are credited.
DOI of Published Version
10.7554/eLife.35692
Source
Elife. 2018 Jul 24;7. pii: 35692. doi: 10.7554/eLife.35692. Link to article on publisher's site
Journal/Book/Conference Title
eLife
Related Resources
PubMed ID
30039797
Repository Citation
Philbrook A, Ramachandran S, Lambert CM, Oliver D, Florman J, Alkema MJ, Lemons M, Francis MM. (2018). Neurexin directs partner-specific synaptic connectivity in C. elegans. Open Access Publications by UMMS Authors. https://doi.org/10.7554/eLife.35692. Retrieved from https://escholarship.umassmed.edu/oapubs/3541
Creative Commons License
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License.
Included in
Amino Acids, Peptides, and Proteins Commons, Molecular and Cellular Neuroscience Commons, Molecular Biology Commons, Nervous System Commons