scholarly journals aPKC in neuronal differentiation, maturation and function

2019 ◽  
Vol 3 (3) ◽  
Author(s):  
Sophie M. Hapak ◽  
Carla V. Rothlin ◽  
Sourav Ghosh
Keyword(s):  
Nervous System ◽  
Protein Kinase ◽  
Neural Development ◽  
System Development ◽  
Nervous System Development ◽  
Versus Gene ◽  
Metabolic Functions ◽  
Neuropsychiatric Diseases ◽  
And Function ◽  
Neuronal Functions

Abstract The atypical Protein Kinase Cs (aPKCs)—PRKCI, PRKCZ and PKMζ—form a subfamily within the Protein Kinase C (PKC) family. These kinases are expressed in the nervous system, including during its development and in adulthood. One of the aPKCs, PKMζ, appears to be restricted to the nervous system. aPKCs are known to play a role in a variety of cellular responses such as proliferation, differentiation, polarity, migration, survival and key metabolic functions such as glucose uptake, that are critical for nervous system development and function. Therefore, these kinases have garnered a lot of interest in terms of their functional role in the nervous system. Here we review the expression and function of aPKCs in neural development and in neuronal maturation and function. Despite seemingly paradoxical findings with genetic deletion versus gene silencing approaches, we posit that aPKCs are likely candidates for regulating many important neurodevelopmental and neuronal functions, and may be associated with a number of human neuropsychiatric diseases.

scholarly journals Neurons interact with the microbiome: an evolutionary-informed perspective

Neuroforum ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 0 (0) ◽  
Author(s):  
Christoph Giez ◽  
Alexander Klimovich ◽  
Thomas C. G. Bosch
Keyword(s):  
Nervous System ◽  
Neural Circuits ◽  
Current Knowledge ◽  
System Development ◽  
Nervous System Development ◽  
Comprehensive Understanding ◽  
Strategic Model ◽  
Microbe Interactions ◽  
Host Microbe Interactions ◽  
And Function

Abstract Animals have evolved within the framework of microbes and are constantly exposed to diverse microbiota. Microbes colonize most, if not all, animal epithelia and influence the activity of many organs, including the nervous system. Therefore, any consideration on nervous system development and function in the absence of the recognition of microbes will be incomplete. Here, we review the current knowledge on the nervous systems of Hydra and its role in the host–microbiome communication. We show that recent advances in molecular and imaging methods are allowing a comprehensive understanding of the capacity of such a seemingly simple nervous system in the context of the metaorganism. We propose that the development, function and evolution of neural circuits must be considered in the context of host–microbe interactions and present Hydra as a strategic model system with great basic and translational relevance for neuroscience.

Endocannabinoid signals in the developmental programming of delayed-onset neuropsychiatric and metabolic illnesses

2013 ◽  
Vol 41 (6) ◽  
pp. 1569-1576 ◽  
Author(s):  
Erik Keimpema ◽  
Daniela Calvigioni ◽  
Tibor Harkany
Keyword(s):  
Prescription Drugs ◽  
Maternal Nutrition ◽  
System Development ◽  
Nervous System Development ◽  
Molecular Evidence ◽  
Critical Periods ◽  
Affected Offspring ◽  
Neuropsychiatric Diseases ◽  
Maternal Programming ◽  
And Function

It is increasingly recognized that maternal exposure to metabolic (nutritional) stimuli, infections, illicit or prescription drugs and environmental stressors during pregnancy can predispose affected offspring to developing devastating postnatal illnesses. If detrimental maternal stimuli coincide with critical periods of tissue production and organogenesis then they can permanently derail key cellular differentiation programs. Maternal programming can thus either provoke developmental failure directly (‘direct hit’) or introduce latent developmental errors that enable otherwise sub-threshold secondary stressors to manifest as disease (‘double hit’) postnatally. Accumulating evidence suggests that nervous system development is tightly controlled by maternal metabolic stimuli, and whose synaptic wiring and integrative capacity are adversely affected by dietary and hormonal challenges, infections or episodes of illicit drug use. Endocannabinoids, a family of signal lipids derived from polyunsaturated fatty acids, have been implicated in neuronal fate determination, the control of axonal growth, synaptogenesis and synaptic neurotransmission. Therefore the continuum and interdependence of endocannabinoid actions during the formation and function of synapses together with dynamic changes in focal and circulating endocannabinoid levels upon maternal nutritional imbalance suggest that endocannabinoids can execute the ‘reprogramming’ of specific neuronal networks. In the present paper, we review molecular evidence suggesting that maternal nutrition and metabolism during pregnancy can affect the formation and function of the hippocampus and hypothalamus by altering endocannabinoid signalling such that neuropsychiatric diseases and obesity respectively ensue in affected offspring. Moreover, we propose that the placenta, fetal adipose and nervous tissues interact via endocannabinoid signals. Thus endocannabinoids are hypothesized to act as a molecular substrate of maternal programming.

scholarly journals A loss-of-function homozygous mutation in DDX59 implicates a conserved DEAD-box RNA helicase in nervous system development and function

2017 ◽  
Vol 39 (2) ◽  
pp. 187-192 ◽  
Author(s):  
Vincenzo Salpietro ◽  
Stephanie Efthymiou ◽  
Andreea Manole ◽  
Bhawana Maurya ◽  
Sarah Wiethoff ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Nervous System ◽  
System Development ◽  
Rna Helicase ◽  
Nervous System Development ◽  
Homozygous Mutation ◽  
Loss Of Function ◽  
Dead Box ◽  
And Function

scholarly journals Genetic Basis of Variation in Cocaine and Methamphetamine Consumption in Outbred Populations of Drosophila melanogaster

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Brandon M. Baker ◽  
Mary Anna Carbone ◽  
Wen Huang ◽  
Robert R. H. Anholt ◽  
Trudy F. C. Mackay
Keyword(s):  
Nervous System ◽  
Drosophila Melanogaster ◽  
Genetic Basis ◽  
Genetic Model ◽  
System Development ◽  
Gene Interaction ◽  
Nervous System Development ◽  
Drug Consumption ◽  
Human Populations ◽  
And Function

AbstractWe used Drosophila melanogaster to map the genetic basis of naturally occurring variation in voluntary consumption of cocaine and methamphetamine. We derived an outbred advanced intercross population (AIP) from 37 sequenced inbred wild-derived lines of the Drosophila melanogaster Genetic Reference Panel (DGRP), which are maximally genetically divergent, have minimal residual heterozygosity, are not segregating for common inversions, and are not infected with Wolbachia pipientis. We assessed consumption of sucrose, methamphetamine-supplemented sucrose and cocaine-supplemented sucrose, and found considerable phenotypic variation for consumption of both drugs, in both sexes. We performed whole genome sequencing and extreme QTL mapping on the top 10% of consumers for each replicate, sex and condition, and an equal number of randomly selected flies. We evaluated changes in allele frequencies among high consumers and control flies and identified 3,033 variants significantly (P < 1.9 × 10-8) associated with increased consumption, located in or near 1,962 genes. Many of these genes are associated with nervous system development and function, and 77 belong to a known gene-gene interaction subnetwork. We assessed the effects of RNA interference (RNAi) on drug consumption for 22 candidate genes; 17 had a significant effect in at least one sex. We constructed allele-specific AIPs which were homozygous for alternative candidate alleles for 10 SNPs and measured average consumption for each population; nine SNPs had significant effects in at least one sex. The genetic basis of voluntary drug consumption in Drosophila is polygenic and implicates genes with human orthologs and associated variants with sex- and drug-specific effects.Significance StatementThe use of cocaine and methamphetamine presents significant socioeconomic problems. However, identifying the genetic underpinnings that determine susceptibility to substance use is challenging in human populations. The fruit fly, Drosophila melanogaster, presents a powerful genetic model since we can control the genetic background and environment, 75% of disease-causing genes in humans have a fly counterpart, and flies - like humans - exhibit adverse effects upon cocaine and methamphetamine exposure. We showed that the genetic architecture underlying variation in voluntary cocaine and methamphetamine consumption differs between sexes and is dominated by variants in genes associated with connectivity and function of the nervous system. Results obtained from the Drosophila gene discovery model can guide studies on substance abuse susceptibility in human populations.

scholarly journals Developmental Accumulation of Gene Body and Transposon Non-CpG Methylation in the Zebrafish Brain

2021 ◽  
Vol 9 ◽  
Author(s):  
Samuel E. Ross ◽  
Daniel Hesselson ◽  
Ozren Bogdanovic
Keyword(s):  
Nervous System ◽  
Transcriptional Repression ◽  
System Development ◽  
Evolutionary Conservation ◽  
Nervous System Development ◽  
Zebrafish Brain ◽  
Zebrafish Larvae ◽  
And Function ◽  
Cg Dinucleotides ◽  
Embryonic Brain Development

DNA methylation predominantly occurs at CG dinucleotides in vertebrate genomes; however, non-CG methylation (mCH) is also detectable in vertebrate tissues, most notably in the nervous system. In mammals it is well established that mCH is targeted to CAC trinucleotides by DNMT3A during nervous system development where it is enriched in gene bodies and associated with transcriptional repression. Nevertheless, the conservation of developmental mCH accumulation and its deposition by DNMT3A is largely unexplored and has yet to be functionally demonstrated in other vertebrates. In this study, by analyzing DNA methylomes and transcriptomes of zebrafish brains, we identified enrichment of mCH at CAC trinucleotides (mCAC) at defined transposon motifs as well as in developmentally downregulated genes associated with developmental and neural functions. We further generated and analyzed DNA methylomes and transcriptomes of developing zebrafish larvae and demonstrated that, like in mammals, mCH accumulates during post-embryonic brain development. Finally, by employing CRISPR/Cas9 technology, we unraveled a conserved role for Dnmt3a enzymes in developmental mCAC deposition. Overall, this work demonstrates the evolutionary conservation of developmental mCH dynamics and highlights the potential of zebrafish as a model to study mCH regulation and function during normal and perturbed development.

scholarly journals Glia as architects of central nervous system formation and function

Science ◽  
2018 ◽  
Vol 362 (6411) ◽  
pp. 181-185 ◽  
Author(s):  
Nicola J. Allen ◽  
David A. Lyons
Keyword(s):  
Central Nervous System ◽  
Nervous System ◽  
Cell Biology ◽  
Radial Glia ◽  
System Development ◽  
Nervous System Development ◽  
Dynamic Monitoring ◽  
Oligodendrocyte Progenitor Cells ◽  
System Formation ◽  
And Function

Glia constitute roughly half of the cells of the central nervous system (CNS) but were long-considered to be static bystanders to its formation and function. Here we provide an overview of how the diverse and dynamic functions of glial cells orchestrate essentially all aspects of nervous system formation and function. Radial glia, astrocytes, oligodendrocyte progenitor cells, oligodendrocytes, and microglia each influence nervous system development, from neuronal birth, migration, axon specification, and growth through circuit assembly and synaptogenesis. As neural circuits mature, distinct glia fulfill key roles in synaptic communication, plasticity, homeostasis, and network-level activity through dynamic monitoring and alteration of CNS structure and function. Continued elucidation of glial cell biology, and the dynamic interactions of neurons and glia, will enrich our understanding of nervous system formation, health, and function.

scholarly journals Cbln1 regulates axon growth and guidance in multiple neural regions

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Sheng-Jian Ji ◽  
Peng Han ◽  
Yuanchu She ◽  
Zhuoxuan Yang ◽  
Mengru Zhuang ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Nervous System ◽  
Axon Guidance ◽  
Neural Development ◽  
System Development ◽  
Axon Growth ◽  
Nervous System Development ◽  
Precise Control ◽  
Commissural Neurons ◽  
Guidance Cues ◽  
Guidance Cue

The accurate construction of neural circuits requires the precise control of axon growth and guidance, which is regulated by multiple growth and guidance cues during early nervous system development. It is generally thought that the growth and guidance cues that control the major steps of axon guidance have been defined. Here, we describe cerebellin-1 (Cbln1) as a novel cue that controls diverse aspects of axon growth and guidance throughout the central nervous system (CNS). Cbln1 has previously been shown to function in late neural development to influence synapse organization. Here we find that Cbln1 has an essential role in early neural development. Cbln1 is expressed on the axons and growth cones of developing commissural neurons and functions in an autocrine manner to promote axon growth. Cbln1 is also expressed in intermediate target tissues and functions as an attractive guidance cue. We find that these functions of Cbln1 are mediated by neurexin-2 (Nrxn2), which functions as the Cbln1 receptor for axon growth and guidance. In addition to the developing spinal cord, we further show that Cbln1 functions in diverse parts of the CNS with major roles in cerebellar parallel fiber growth and retinal ganglion cell axon guidance. Despite the prevailing role of Cbln1 as a synaptic organizer, our study discovers a new and unexpected function for Cbln1 as a general axon growth and guidance cue throughout the nervous system.

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