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Zeng WX, Liu H, Hao Y, Qian KY, Tian FM, Li L, Yu B, Zeng XT, Gao S, Hu Z, Tong XJ. CaMKII mediates sexually dimorphic synaptic transmission at neuromuscular junctions in C. elegans. J Cell Biol 2023; 222:e202301117. [PMID: 37624117 PMCID: PMC10457463 DOI: 10.1083/jcb.202301117] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/27/2023] [Revised: 06/20/2023] [Accepted: 08/14/2023] [Indexed: 08/26/2023] Open
Abstract
Sexually dimorphic behaviors are ubiquitous throughout the animal kingdom. Although both sex-specific and sex-shared neurons have been functionally implicated in these diverse behaviors, less is known about the roles of sex-shared neurons. Here, we discovered sexually dimorphic cholinergic synaptic transmission in C. elegans occurring at neuromuscular junctions (NMJs), with males exhibiting increased release frequencies, which result in sexually dimorphic locomotion behaviors. Scanning electron microscopy revealed that males have significantly more synaptic vesicles (SVs) at their cholinergic synapses than hermaphrodites. Analysis of previously published transcriptome identified the male-enriched transcripts and focused our attention on UNC-43/CaMKII. We ultimately show that differential accumulation of UNC-43 at cholinergic neurons controls axonal SV abundance and synaptic transmission. Finally, we demonstrate that sex reversal of all neurons in hermaphrodites generates male-like cholinergic transmission and locomotion behaviors. Thus, beyond demonstrating UNC-43/CaMKII as an essential mediator of sex-specific synaptic transmission, our study provides molecular and cellular insights into how sex-shared neurons can generate sexually dimorphic locomotion behaviors.
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Affiliation(s)
- Wan-Xin Zeng
- School of Life Science and Technology, ShanghaiTech University, Shanghai, China
- Institute of Neuroscience, Shanghai Institutes for Biological Sciences, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Shanghai, China
- University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, China
| | - Haowen Liu
- Queensland Brain Institute, Clem Jones Centre for Ageing Dementia Research (CJCADR), The University of Queensland, Brisbane, Australia
| | - Yue Hao
- School of Life Science and Technology, ShanghaiTech University, Shanghai, China
- Institute of Neuroscience, Shanghai Institutes for Biological Sciences, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Shanghai, China
- University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, China
| | - Kang-Ying Qian
- School of Life Science and Technology, ShanghaiTech University, Shanghai, China
- Institute of Neuroscience, Shanghai Institutes for Biological Sciences, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Shanghai, China
- University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, China
| | - Fu-Min Tian
- School of Life Science and Technology, ShanghaiTech University, Shanghai, China
| | - Lei Li
- Queensland Brain Institute, Clem Jones Centre for Ageing Dementia Research (CJCADR), The University of Queensland, Brisbane, Australia
| | - Bin Yu
- College of Life Science and Technology, Huazhong University of Science and Technology, Wuhan, China
| | - Xian-Ting Zeng
- School of Life Science and Technology, ShanghaiTech University, Shanghai, China
| | - Shangbang Gao
- College of Life Science and Technology, Huazhong University of Science and Technology, Wuhan, China
| | - Zhitao Hu
- Queensland Brain Institute, Clem Jones Centre for Ageing Dementia Research (CJCADR), The University of Queensland, Brisbane, Australia
- Department of Neuroscience, City University of Hong Kong, Kowloon, China
| | - Xia-Jing Tong
- School of Life Science and Technology, ShanghaiTech University, Shanghai, China
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