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Sachkova MY. Evolutionary origin of the nervous system from Ctenophora prospective. Evol Dev 2024; 26:e12472. [PMID: 38390763 DOI: 10.1111/ede.12472] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/23/2023] [Revised: 02/09/2024] [Accepted: 02/10/2024] [Indexed: 02/24/2024]
Abstract
Nervous system is one of the key adaptations underlying the evolutionary success of the majority of animal groups. Ctenophores (or comb jellies) are gelatinous marine invertebrates that were probably the first lineage to diverge from the rest of animals. Due to the key phylogenetic position and multiple unique adaptations, the noncentralized nervous system of comb jellies has been in the center of the debate around the origin of the nervous system in the animal kingdom and whether it happened only once or twice. Here, we discuss the latest findings in ctenophore neuroscience and multiple challenges on the way to build a clear evolutionary picture of the origin of the nervous system.
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Affiliation(s)
- Maria Y Sachkova
- School of Biological Sciences, University of Bristol, Bristol, UK
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2
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Giez C, Noack C, Sakib E, Hofacker LM, Repnik U, Bramkamp M, Bosch TCG. Satiety controls behavior in Hydra through an interplay of pre-enteric and central nervous system-like neuron populations. Cell Rep 2024; 43:114210. [PMID: 38787723 DOI: 10.1016/j.celrep.2024.114210] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/13/2023] [Revised: 03/11/2024] [Accepted: 04/23/2024] [Indexed: 05/26/2024] Open
Abstract
Hunger and satiety can have an influence on decision-making, sensory processing, and motor behavior by altering the internal state of the brain. This process necessitates the integration of peripheral sensory stimuli into the central nervous system. Here, we show how animals without a central nervous system such as the cnidarian Hydra measure and integrate satiety into neuronal circuits and which specific neuronal populations are involved. We demonstrate that this simple nervous system, previously referred to as diffuse, has an endodermal subpopulation (N4) similar to the enteric nervous system (feeding-associated behavior) and an ectodermal population (N3) that performs central nervous system-like functions (physiology/motor). This view of a supposedly simple nervous system could open an important window into the origin of more complex nervous systems.
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Affiliation(s)
- Christoph Giez
- Zoological Institute, University of Kiel, Am Botanischen Garten 1-9, 24118 Kiel, Germany; Neural Circuits and Evolution Laboratory, Francis Crick Institute, London NW1 1AT, UK.
| | - Christopher Noack
- Zoological Institute, University of Kiel, Am Botanischen Garten 1-9, 24118 Kiel, Germany
| | - Ehsan Sakib
- Zoological Institute, University of Kiel, Am Botanischen Garten 1-9, 24118 Kiel, Germany
| | - Lisa-Marie Hofacker
- Zoological Institute, University of Kiel, Am Botanischen Garten 1-9, 24118 Kiel, Germany
| | - Urska Repnik
- Centrale Microscopy, University of Kiel, Am Botanischen Garten 1-9, 24118 Kiel, Germany
| | - Marc Bramkamp
- Centrale Microscopy, University of Kiel, Am Botanischen Garten 1-9, 24118 Kiel, Germany; Institute for General Microbiology, University of Kiel, Am Botanischen Garten 1-9, 24118 Kiel, Germany
| | - Thomas C G Bosch
- Zoological Institute, University of Kiel, Am Botanischen Garten 1-9, 24118 Kiel, Germany.
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3
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Ehweiner A, Duch C, Brembs B. Wings of Change: aPKC/FoxP-dependent plasticity in steering motor neurons underlies operant self-learning in Drosophila. F1000Res 2024; 13:116. [PMID: 38779314 PMCID: PMC11109550 DOI: 10.12688/f1000research.146347.1] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Accepted: 05/31/2024] [Indexed: 05/25/2024] Open
Abstract
Background Motor learning is central to human existence, such as learning to speak or walk, sports moves, or rehabilitation after injury. Evidence suggests that all forms of motor learning share an evolutionarily conserved molecular plasticity pathway. Here, we present novel insights into the neural processes underlying operant self-learning, a form of motor learning in the fruit fly Drosophila. Methods We operantly trained wild type and transgenic Drosophila fruit flies, tethered at the torque meter, in a motor learning task that required them to initiate and maintain turning maneuvers around their vertical body axis (yaw torque). We combined this behavioral experiment with transgenic peptide expression, CRISPR/Cas9-mediated, spatio-temporally controlled gene knock-out and confocal microscopy. Results We find that expression of atypical protein kinase C (aPKC) in direct wing steering motoneurons co-expressing the transcription factor FoxP is necessary for this type of motor learning and that aPKC likely acts via non-canonical pathways. We also found that it takes more than a week for CRISPR/Cas9-mediated knockout of FoxP in adult animals to impair motor learning, suggesting that adult FoxP expression is required for operant self-learning. Conclusions Our experiments suggest that, for operant self-learning, a type of motor learning in Drosophila, co-expression of atypical protein kinase C (aPKC) and the transcription factor FoxP is necessary in direct wing steering motoneurons. Some of these neurons control the wing beat amplitude when generating optomotor responses, and we have discovered modulation of optomotor behavior after operant self-learning. We also discovered that aPKC likely acts via non-canonical pathways and that FoxP expression is also required in adult flies.
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Affiliation(s)
- Andreas Ehweiner
- Institut für Zoologie - Neurogenetik, Universität Regensburg, Regensburg, Bavaria, 93040, Germany
| | - Carsten Duch
- Institute of Developmental Biology and Neurobiology (iDN), Johannes Gutenberg Universitat Mainz, Mainz, Rhineland-Palatinate, Germany
| | - Björn Brembs
- Institut für Zoologie - Neurogenetik, Universität Regensburg, Regensburg, Bavaria, 93040, Germany
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4
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Thiel D, Yañez Guerra LA, Kieswetter A, Cole AG, Temmerman L, Technau U, Jékely G. Large-scale deorphanization of Nematostella vectensis neuropeptide G protein-coupled receptors supports the independent expansion of bilaterian and cnidarian peptidergic systems. eLife 2024; 12:RP90674. [PMID: 38727714 PMCID: PMC11087051 DOI: 10.7554/elife.90674] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 05/12/2024] Open
Abstract
Neuropeptides are ancient signaling molecules in animals but only few peptide receptors are known outside bilaterians. Cnidarians possess a large number of G protein-coupled receptors (GPCRs) - the most common receptors of bilaterian neuropeptides - but most of these remain orphan with no known ligands. We searched for neuropeptides in the sea anemone Nematostella vectensis and created a library of 64 peptides derived from 33 precursors. In a large-scale pharmacological screen with these peptides and 161 N. vectensis GPCRs, we identified 31 receptors specifically activated by 1 to 3 of 14 peptides. Mapping GPCR and neuropeptide expression to single-cell sequencing data revealed how cnidarian tissues are extensively connected by multilayer peptidergic networks. Phylogenetic analysis identified no direct orthology to bilaterian peptidergic systems and supports the independent expansion of neuropeptide signaling in cnidarians from a few ancestral peptide-receptor pairs.
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Affiliation(s)
- Daniel Thiel
- Living Systems Institute, University of ExeterExeterUnited Kingdom
| | | | - Amanda Kieswetter
- Animal Physiology & Neurobiology, Department of Biology, University of LeuvenLeuvenBelgium
| | - Alison G Cole
- Department of Neurosciences and Developmental Biology, Faculty of Life Sciences, University of ViennaViennaAustria
| | - Liesbet Temmerman
- Animal Physiology & Neurobiology, Department of Biology, University of LeuvenLeuvenBelgium
| | - Ulrich Technau
- Department of Neurosciences and Developmental Biology, Faculty of Life Sciences, University of ViennaViennaAustria
| | - Gáspár Jékely
- Living Systems Institute, University of ExeterExeterUnited Kingdom
- Centre for Organismal Studies (COS), Heidelberg UniversityHeidelbergGermany
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5
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Kalienkova V, Dandamudi M, Paulino C, Lynagh T. Structural basis for excitatory neuropeptide signaling. Nat Struct Mol Biol 2024; 31:717-726. [PMID: 38337033 PMCID: PMC11026163 DOI: 10.1038/s41594-023-01198-y] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/27/2023] [Accepted: 12/05/2023] [Indexed: 02/12/2024]
Abstract
Rapid signaling between neurons is mediated by ligand-gated ion channels, cell-surface proteins with an extracellular ligand-binding domain and a membrane-spanning ion channel domain. The degenerin/epithelial sodium channel (DEG/ENaC) superfamily is diverse in terms of its gating stimuli, with some DEG/ENaCs gated by neuropeptides, and others gated by pH, mechanical force or enzymatic activity. The mechanism by which ligands bind to and activate DEG/ENaCs is poorly understood. Here we dissected the structural basis for neuropeptide-gated activity of a neuropeptide-gated DEG/ENaC, FMRFamide-gated sodium channel 1 (FaNaC1) from the annelid worm Malacoceros fuliginosus, using cryo-electron microscopy. Structures of FaNaC1 in the ligand-free resting state and in several ligand-bound states reveal the ligand-binding site and capture the ligand-induced conformational changes of channel gating, which we verified with complementary mutagenesis experiments. Our results illuminate channel gating in DEG/ENaCs and offer a structural template for experimental dissection of channel pharmacology and ion conduction.
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Affiliation(s)
- Valeria Kalienkova
- Groningen Biomolecular Sciences and Biotechnology Institute, University of Groningen, Groningen, the Netherlands
- Department of Biomedicine, University of Bergen, Bergen, Norway
| | | | - Cristina Paulino
- Groningen Biomolecular Sciences and Biotechnology Institute, University of Groningen, Groningen, the Netherlands.
- Biochemistry Center, Heidelberg University, Heidelberg, Germany.
| | - Timothy Lynagh
- Michael Sars Centre, University of Bergen, Bergen, Norway.
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6
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Robertson HE, Sebé-Pedrós A, Saudemont B, Loe-Mie Y, Zakrzewski AC, Grau-Bové X, Mailhe MP, Schiffer P, Telford MJ, Marlow H. Single cell atlas of Xenoturbella bocki highlights limited cell-type complexity. Nat Commun 2024; 15:2469. [PMID: 38503762 PMCID: PMC10951248 DOI: 10.1038/s41467-024-45956-y] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/02/2022] [Accepted: 02/07/2024] [Indexed: 03/21/2024] Open
Abstract
Phylogenetic analyses over the last two decades have united a few small, and previously orphan clades, the nematodermatids, acoels and xenoturbelids, into the phylum Xenacoelomorpha. Some phylogenetic analyses support a sister relationship between Xenacoelomorpha and Ambulacraria (Xenambulacraria), while others suggest that Xenacoelomorpha may be sister to the rest of the Bilateria (Nephrozoa). An understanding of the cell type complements of Xenacoelomorphs is essential to assessing these alternatives as well as to our broader understanding of bilaterian cell type evolution. Employing whole organism single-cell RNA-seq in the marine xenacoelomorph worm Xenoturbella bocki, we show that Xenambulacrarian nerve nets share regulatory features and a peptidergic identity with those found in cnidarians and protostomes and more broadly share muscle and gland cell similarities with other metazoans. Taken together, these data are consistent with broad homologies of animal gland, muscle, and neurons as well as more specific affinities between Xenoturbella and acoel gut and epidermal tissues, consistent with the monophyly of Xenacoelomorpha.
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Affiliation(s)
- Helen E Robertson
- Department of Organismal Biology and Anatomy, The University of Chicago, Chicago, IL, USA
- (Epi)genomics of Animal Development Unit, Department of Developmental and Stem Cell Biology, Institut Pasteur, Paris, France
- Centre for Life's Origins and Evolution, Department of Genetics, Evolution and Environment, University College London, London, UK
| | - Arnau Sebé-Pedrós
- Centre for Genomic Regulation (CRG), Barcelona Institute of Science and Technology (BIST), Barcelona, Spain
- Universitat Pompeu Fabra (UPF), Barcelona, Spain
- ICREA, Barcelona, Spain
| | - Baptiste Saudemont
- (Epi)genomics of Animal Development Unit, Department of Developmental and Stem Cell Biology, Institut Pasteur, Paris, France
| | - Yann Loe-Mie
- (Epi)genomics of Animal Development Unit, Department of Developmental and Stem Cell Biology, Institut Pasteur, Paris, France
| | - Anne-C Zakrzewski
- Centre for Life's Origins and Evolution, Department of Genetics, Evolution and Environment, University College London, London, UK
| | - Xavier Grau-Bové
- Centre for Genomic Regulation (CRG), Barcelona Institute of Science and Technology (BIST), Barcelona, Spain
| | - Marie-Pierre Mailhe
- (Epi)genomics of Animal Development Unit, Department of Developmental and Stem Cell Biology, Institut Pasteur, Paris, France
| | - Philipp Schiffer
- Centre for Life's Origins and Evolution, Department of Genetics, Evolution and Environment, University College London, London, UK
- Institute of Zoology, Section Developmental Biology, University of Cologne, Köln, Wormlab, Germany
| | - Maximilian J Telford
- Centre for Life's Origins and Evolution, Department of Genetics, Evolution and Environment, University College London, London, UK.
| | - Heather Marlow
- Department of Organismal Biology and Anatomy, The University of Chicago, Chicago, IL, USA.
- (Epi)genomics of Animal Development Unit, Department of Developmental and Stem Cell Biology, Institut Pasteur, Paris, France.
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7
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Bich L. Integrating Multicellular Systems: Physiological Control and Degrees of Biological Individuality. Acta Biotheor 2023; 72:1. [PMID: 38151680 PMCID: PMC10752842 DOI: 10.1007/s10441-023-09476-4] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/29/2023] [Accepted: 12/17/2023] [Indexed: 12/29/2023]
Abstract
This paper focuses on physiological integration in multicellular systems, a notion often associated with biological individuality, but which has not received enough attention and needs a thorough theoretical treatment. Broadly speaking, physiological integration consists in how different components come together into a cohesive unit in which they are dependent on one another for their existence and activity. This paper argues that physiological integration can be understood by considering how the components of a biological multicellular system are controlled and coordinated in such a way that their activities can contribute to the maintenance of the system. The main implication of this perspective is that different ways of controlling their parts may give rise to multicellular organizations with different degrees of integration. After defining control, this paper analyses how control is realized in two examples of multicellular systems located at different ends of the spectrum of multicellularity: biofilms and animals. It focuses on differences in control ranges, and it argues that a high degree of integration implies control exerted at both medium and long ranges, and that insofar as biofilms lack long-range control (relative to their size) they can be considered as less integrated than other multicellular systems. It then discusses the implication of this account for the debate on physiological individuality and the idea that degrees of physiological integration imply degrees of individuality.
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Affiliation(s)
- Leonardo Bich
- Department of Philosophy, IAS-Research Centre for Life, Mind and Society, University of the Basque Country (UPV/EHU), Avenida de Tolosa 70, Donostia-San Sebastian, 20018, Spain.
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8
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Yang A, Qiu M, Xu X. Evolution of the Nervous System Extrapolated from Ctenophore and the Resurrection of Golgi's Reticular Theory? Neurosci Bull 2023; 39:1895-1897. [PMID: 37755678 PMCID: PMC10661669 DOI: 10.1007/s12264-023-01119-5] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/26/2023] [Accepted: 07/27/2023] [Indexed: 09/28/2023] Open
Affiliation(s)
- Aifen Yang
- Zhejiang Key Laboratory of Organ Development and Regeneration, Institute of Life Sciences, College of Life and Environmental Sciences, Hangzhou Normal University, Hangzhou, 311121, China
| | - Mengsheng Qiu
- Zhejiang Key Laboratory of Organ Development and Regeneration, Institute of Life Sciences, College of Life and Environmental Sciences, Hangzhou Normal University, Hangzhou, 311121, China.
| | - Xiaofeng Xu
- Zhejiang Key Laboratory of Organ Development and Regeneration, Institute of Life Sciences, College of Life and Environmental Sciences, Hangzhou Normal University, Hangzhou, 311121, China.
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9
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Walters ET. Exaptation and Evolutionary Adaptation in Nociceptor Mechanisms Driving Persistent Pain. BRAIN, BEHAVIOR AND EVOLUTION 2023; 98:314-330. [PMID: 38035556 PMCID: PMC10922759 DOI: 10.1159/000535552] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/02/2023] [Accepted: 11/23/2023] [Indexed: 12/02/2023]
Abstract
BACKGROUND Several evolutionary explanations have been proposed for why chronic pain is a major clinical problem. One is that some mechanisms important for driving chronic pain, while maladaptive for modern humans, were adaptive because they enhanced survival. Evidence is reviewed for persistent nociceptor hyperactivity (PNH), known to promote chronic pain in rodents and humans, being an evolutionarily adaptive response to significant bodily injury, and primitive molecular mechanisms related to cellular injury and stress being exapted (co-opted or repurposed) to drive PNH and consequent pain. SUMMARY PNH in a snail (Aplysia californica), squid (Doryteuthis pealeii), fruit fly (Drosophila melanogaster), mice, rats, and humans has been documented as long-lasting enhancement of action potential discharge evoked by peripheral stimuli, and in some of these species as persistent extrinsically driven ongoing activity and/or intrinsic spontaneous activity (OA and SA, respectively). In mammals, OA and SA are often initiated within the protected nociceptor soma long after an inducing injury. Generation of OA or SA in nociceptor somata may be very rare in invertebrates, but prolonged afterdischarge in nociceptor somata readily occurs in sensitized Aplysia. Evidence for the adaptiveness of injury-induced PNH has come from observations of decreased survival of injured squid exposed to predators when PNH is blocked, from plausible survival benefits of chronic sensitization after severe injuries such as amputation, and from the functional coherence and intricacy of mammalian PNH mechanisms. Major contributions of cAMP-PKA signaling (with associated calcium signaling) to the maintenance of PNH both in mammals and molluscs suggest that this ancient stress signaling system was exapted early during the evolution of nociceptors to drive hyperactivity following bodily injury. Vertebrates have retained core cAMP-PKA signaling modules for PNH while adding new extracellular modulators (e.g., opioids) and cAMP-regulated ion channels (e.g., TRPV1 and Nav1.8 channels). KEY MESSAGES Evidence from multiple phyla indicates that PNH is a physiological adaptation that decreases the risk of attacks on injured animals. Core cAMP-PKA signaling modules make major contributions to the maintenance of PNH in molluscs and mammals. This conserved signaling has been linked to ancient cellular responses to stress, which may have been exapted in early nociceptors to drive protective hyperactivity that can persist while bodily functions recover after significant injury.
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Affiliation(s)
- Edgar T Walters
- Department of Integrative Biology and Pharmacology, McGovern Medical School, University of Texas Health Science Center at Houston, Houston, Texas, USA
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10
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Ripoll-Sánchez L, Watteyne J, Sun H, Fernandez R, Taylor SR, Weinreb A, Bentley BL, Hammarlund M, Miller DM, Hobert O, Beets I, Vértes PE, Schafer WR. The neuropeptidergic connectome of C. elegans. Neuron 2023; 111:3570-3589.e5. [PMID: 37935195 PMCID: PMC7615469 DOI: 10.1016/j.neuron.2023.09.043] [Citation(s) in RCA: 14] [Impact Index Per Article: 14.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/15/2022] [Revised: 08/02/2023] [Accepted: 09/29/2023] [Indexed: 11/09/2023]
Abstract
Efforts are ongoing to map synaptic wiring diagrams, or connectomes, to understand the neural basis of brain function. However, chemical synapses represent only one type of functionally important neuronal connection; in particular, extrasynaptic, "wireless" signaling by neuropeptides is widespread and plays essential roles in all nervous systems. By integrating single-cell anatomical and gene-expression datasets with biochemical analysis of receptor-ligand interactions, we have generated a draft connectome of neuropeptide signaling in the C. elegans nervous system. This network is characterized by high connection density, extended signaling cascades, autocrine foci, and a decentralized topology, with a large, highly interconnected core containing three constituent communities sharing similar patterns of input connectivity. Intriguingly, several key network hubs are little-studied neurons that appear specialized for peptidergic neuromodulation. We anticipate that the C. elegans neuropeptidergic connectome will serve as a prototype to understand how networks of neuromodulatory signaling are organized.
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Affiliation(s)
- Lidia Ripoll-Sánchez
- Neurobiology Division, MRC Laboratory of Molecular Biology, Cambridge, UK; Department of Psychiatry, Cambridge University, Cambridge, UK
| | - Jan Watteyne
- Department of Biology, KU Leuven, Leuven, Belgium
| | - HaoSheng Sun
- Department of Biological Sciences/HHMI, Columbia University, New York, NY, USA; Department of Cell, Developmental, and Integrative Biology, University of Alabama at Birmingham, Birmingham, AL, USA
| | - Robert Fernandez
- Department of Biological Sciences/HHMI, Columbia University, New York, NY, USA
| | - Seth R Taylor
- Department of Cell and Developmental Biology, Vanderbilt University School of Medicine, Nashville, TN, USA
| | - Alexis Weinreb
- Departments of Genetics and Neuroscience, Yale University School of Medicine, New Haven, CT, USA
| | - Barry L Bentley
- Cardiff School of Technologies, Cardiff Metropolitan University, Cardiff, UK
| | - Marc Hammarlund
- Departments of Genetics and Neuroscience, Yale University School of Medicine, New Haven, CT, USA
| | - David M Miller
- Department of Cell and Developmental Biology, Vanderbilt University School of Medicine, Nashville, TN, USA
| | - Oliver Hobert
- Department of Biological Sciences/HHMI, Columbia University, New York, NY, USA
| | - Isabel Beets
- Department of Biology, KU Leuven, Leuven, Belgium
| | - Petra E Vértes
- Department of Psychiatry, Cambridge University, Cambridge, UK
| | - William R Schafer
- Neurobiology Division, MRC Laboratory of Molecular Biology, Cambridge, UK; Department of Biology, KU Leuven, Leuven, Belgium.
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11
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Moroz LL, Romanova DY. Chemical cognition: chemoconnectomics and convergent evolution of integrative systems in animals. Anim Cogn 2023; 26:1851-1864. [PMID: 38015282 PMCID: PMC11106658 DOI: 10.1007/s10071-023-01833-7] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Accepted: 11/16/2023] [Indexed: 11/29/2023]
Abstract
Neurons underpin cognition in animals. However, the roots of animal cognition are elusive from both mechanistic and evolutionary standpoints. Two conceptual frameworks both highlight and promise to address these challenges. First, we discuss evidence that animal neural and other integrative systems evolved more than once (convergent evolution) within basal metazoan lineages, giving us unique experiments by Nature for future studies. The most remarkable examples are neural systems in ctenophores and neuroid-like systems in placozoans and sponges. Second, in addition to classical synaptic wiring, a chemical connectome mediated by hundreds of signal molecules operates in tandem with neurons and is the most information-rich source of emerging properties and adaptability. The major gap-dynamic, multifunctional chemical micro-environments in nervous systems-is not understood well. Thus, novel tools and information are needed to establish mechanistic links between orchestrated, yet cell-specific, volume transmission and behaviors. Uniting what we call chemoconnectomics and analyses of the cellular bases of behavior in basal metazoan lineages arguably would form the foundation for deciphering the origins and early evolution of elementary cognition and intelligence.
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Affiliation(s)
- Leonid L Moroz
- Department of Neuroscience, University of Florida, Gainesville, USA.
- Whitney Laboratory for Marine Bioscience, University of Florida, Saint Augustine, USA.
| | - Daria Y Romanova
- Institute of Higher Nervous Activity and Neurophysiology of RAS, Moscow, Russia
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12
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Najle SR, Grau-Bové X, Elek A, Navarrete C, Cianferoni D, Chiva C, Cañas-Armenteros D, Mallabiabarrena A, Kamm K, Sabidó E, Gruber-Vodicka H, Schierwater B, Serrano L, Sebé-Pedrós A. Stepwise emergence of the neuronal gene expression program in early animal evolution. Cell 2023; 186:4676-4693.e29. [PMID: 37729907 PMCID: PMC10580291 DOI: 10.1016/j.cell.2023.08.027] [Citation(s) in RCA: 7] [Impact Index Per Article: 7.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/16/2023] [Revised: 06/13/2023] [Accepted: 08/22/2023] [Indexed: 09/22/2023]
Abstract
The assembly of the neuronal and other major cell type programs occurred early in animal evolution. We can reconstruct this process by studying non-bilaterians like placozoans. These small disc-shaped animals not only have nine morphologically described cell types and no neurons but also show coordinated behaviors triggered by peptide-secreting cells. We investigated possible neuronal affinities of these peptidergic cells using phylogenetics, chromatin profiling, and comparative single-cell genomics in four placozoans. We found conserved cell type expression programs across placozoans, including populations of transdifferentiating and cycling cells, suggestive of active cell type homeostasis. We also uncovered fourteen peptidergic cell types expressing neuronal-associated components like the pre-synaptic scaffold that derive from progenitor cells with neurogenesis signatures. In contrast, earlier-branching animals like sponges and ctenophores lacked this conserved expression. Our findings indicate that key neuronal developmental and effector gene modules evolved before the advent of cnidarian/bilaterian neurons in the context of paracrine cell signaling.
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Affiliation(s)
- Sebastián R Najle
- Centre for Genomic Regulation (CRG), Barcelona Institute of Science and Technology (BIST), Barcelona, Spain
| | - Xavier Grau-Bové
- Centre for Genomic Regulation (CRG), Barcelona Institute of Science and Technology (BIST), Barcelona, Spain
| | - Anamaria Elek
- Centre for Genomic Regulation (CRG), Barcelona Institute of Science and Technology (BIST), Barcelona, Spain; Universitat Pompeu Fabra (UPF), Barcelona, Spain
| | - Cristina Navarrete
- Centre for Genomic Regulation (CRG), Barcelona Institute of Science and Technology (BIST), Barcelona, Spain; Universitat Pompeu Fabra (UPF), Barcelona, Spain
| | - Damiano Cianferoni
- Centre for Genomic Regulation (CRG), Barcelona Institute of Science and Technology (BIST), Barcelona, Spain; Universitat Pompeu Fabra (UPF), Barcelona, Spain
| | - Cristina Chiva
- Centre for Genomic Regulation (CRG), Barcelona Institute of Science and Technology (BIST), Barcelona, Spain; Universitat Pompeu Fabra (UPF), Barcelona, Spain
| | - Didac Cañas-Armenteros
- Centre for Genomic Regulation (CRG), Barcelona Institute of Science and Technology (BIST), Barcelona, Spain
| | - Arrate Mallabiabarrena
- Centre for Genomic Regulation (CRG), Barcelona Institute of Science and Technology (BIST), Barcelona, Spain
| | - Kai Kamm
- Institute of Animal Ecology, University of Veterinary Medicine Hannover, Foundation, Hannover, Germany
| | - Eduard Sabidó
- Centre for Genomic Regulation (CRG), Barcelona Institute of Science and Technology (BIST), Barcelona, Spain; Universitat Pompeu Fabra (UPF), Barcelona, Spain
| | - Harald Gruber-Vodicka
- Max Planck Institute for Marine Microbiology, Bremen, Germany; Zoological Institute, Christian Albrechts University, Kiel, Germany
| | - Bernd Schierwater
- Institute of Animal Ecology, University of Veterinary Medicine Hannover, Foundation, Hannover, Germany; American Museum of Natural History, Richard Gilder Graduate School, NY, USA
| | - Luis Serrano
- Centre for Genomic Regulation (CRG), Barcelona Institute of Science and Technology (BIST), Barcelona, Spain; Universitat Pompeu Fabra (UPF), Barcelona, Spain; ICREA, Barcelona, Spain
| | - Arnau Sebé-Pedrós
- Centre for Genomic Regulation (CRG), Barcelona Institute of Science and Technology (BIST), Barcelona, Spain; Universitat Pompeu Fabra (UPF), Barcelona, Spain; ICREA, Barcelona, Spain.
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13
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Beets I, Zels S, Vandewyer E, Demeulemeester J, Caers J, Baytemur E, Courtney A, Golinelli L, Hasakioğulları İ, Schafer WR, Vértes PE, Mirabeau O, Schoofs L. System-wide mapping of peptide-GPCR interactions in C. elegans. Cell Rep 2023; 42:113058. [PMID: 37656621 PMCID: PMC7615250 DOI: 10.1016/j.celrep.2023.113058] [Citation(s) in RCA: 11] [Impact Index Per Article: 11.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/15/2022] [Revised: 07/19/2023] [Accepted: 08/16/2023] [Indexed: 09/03/2023] Open
Abstract
Neuropeptides and peptide hormones are ancient, widespread signaling molecules that underpin almost all brain functions. They constitute a broad ligand-receptor network, mainly by binding to G protein-coupled receptors (GPCRs). However, the organization of the peptidergic network and roles of many peptides remain elusive, as our insight into peptide-receptor interactions is limited and many peptide GPCRs are still orphan receptors. Here we report a genome-wide peptide-GPCR interaction map in Caenorhabditis elegans. By reverse pharmacology screening of over 55,384 possible interactions, we identify 461 cognate peptide-GPCR couples that uncover a broad signaling network with specific and complex combinatorial interactions encoded across and within single peptidergic genes. These interactions provide insights into peptide functions and evolution. Combining our dataset with phylogenetic analysis supports peptide-receptor co-evolution and conservation of at least 14 bilaterian peptidergic systems in C. elegans. This resource lays a foundation for system-wide analysis of the peptidergic network.
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Affiliation(s)
- Isabel Beets
- Department of Biology, KU Leuven, 3000 Leuven, Belgium.
| | - Sven Zels
- Department of Biology, KU Leuven, 3000 Leuven, Belgium
| | | | - Jonas Demeulemeester
- The Francis Crick Institute, London NW1 1AT, UK; VIB - KU Leuven Center for Cancer Biology, 3000 Leuven, Belgium; Department of Oncology, KU Leuven, 3000 Leuven, Belgium
| | - Jelle Caers
- Department of Biology, KU Leuven, 3000 Leuven, Belgium
| | - Esra Baytemur
- Department of Biology, KU Leuven, 3000 Leuven, Belgium
| | - Amy Courtney
- Neurobiology Division, MRC Laboratory of Molecular Biology, Cambridge CB2 0QH, UK
| | | | | | - William R Schafer
- Neurobiology Division, MRC Laboratory of Molecular Biology, Cambridge CB2 0QH, UK
| | - Petra E Vértes
- Department of Psychiatry, Behavioural and Clinical Neuroscience Institute, University of Cambridge, Cambridge CB2 3EB, UK
| | - Olivier Mirabeau
- Institut Pasteur, Université Paris Cité, Bioinformatics and Biostatistics Hub, Inserm U1224, Brain-Immune Communication Lab, 75015 Paris, France
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14
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Layden A, Ma X, Johnson CA, He XJ, Buczynski SA, Banghart MR. A Biomimetic C-Terminal Extension Strategy for Photocaging Amidated Neuropeptides. J Am Chem Soc 2023; 145:19611-19621. [PMID: 37649440 PMCID: PMC10510324 DOI: 10.1021/jacs.3c03913] [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: 04/18/2023] [Indexed: 09/01/2023]
Abstract
Photoactivatable neuropeptides offer a robust stimulus-response relationship that can drive mechanistic studies into the physiological mechanisms of neuropeptidergic transmission. The majority of neuropeptides contain a C-terminal amide, which offers a potentially general site for installation of a C-terminal caging group. Here, we report a biomimetic caging strategy in which the neuropeptide C-terminus is extended via a photocleavable amino acid to mimic the proneuropeptides found in large dense-core vesicles. We explored this approach with four prominent neuropeptides: gastrin-releasing peptide (GRP), oxytocin (OT), substance P (SP), and cholecystokinin (CCK). C-terminus extension greatly reduced the activity of all four peptides at heterologously expressed receptors. In cell type-specific electrophysiological recordings from acute brain slices, subsecond flashes of ultraviolet light produced rapidly activating membrane currents via activation of endogenous G protein-coupled receptors. Subsequent mechanistic studies with caged CCK revealed a role for extracellular proteases in shaping the temporal dynamics of CCK signaling, and a striking switch-like, cell-autonomous anti-opioid effect of transient CCK signaling in hippocampal parvalbumin interneurons. These results suggest that C-terminus extension with a photocleavable linker may be a general strategy for photocaging amidated neuropeptides and demonstrate how photocaged neuropeptides can provide mechanistic insights into neuropeptide signaling that are inaccessible using conventional approaches.
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Affiliation(s)
| | | | - Caroline A. Johnson
- Department of Neurobiology,
School of Biological Sciences, University
of California San Diego, La Jolla, California 92093, United States
| | | | - Stanley A. Buczynski
- Department of Neurobiology,
School of Biological Sciences, University
of California San Diego, La Jolla, California 92093, United States
| | - Matthew R. Banghart
- Department of Neurobiology,
School of Biological Sciences, University
of California San Diego, La Jolla, California 92093, United States
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15
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Andrade López JM, Pani AM, Wu M, Gerhart J, Lowe CJ. Molecular characterization of nervous system organization in the hemichordate acorn worm Saccoglossus kowalevskii. PLoS Biol 2023; 21:e3002242. [PMID: 37725784 PMCID: PMC10508912 DOI: 10.1371/journal.pbio.3002242] [Citation(s) in RCA: 3] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/31/2023] [Accepted: 07/11/2023] [Indexed: 09/21/2023] Open
Abstract
Hemichordates are an important group for investigating the evolution of bilaterian nervous systems. As the closest chordate outgroup with a bilaterally symmetric adult body plan, hemichordates are particularly informative for exploring the origins of chordates. Despite the importance of hemichordate neuroanatomy for testing hypotheses on deuterostome and chordate evolution, adult hemichordate nervous systems have not been comprehensively described using molecular techniques, and classic histological descriptions disagree on basic aspects of nervous system organization. A molecular description of hemichordate nervous system organization is important for both anatomical comparisons across phyla and for attempts to understand how conserved gene regulatory programs for ectodermal patterning relate to morphological evolution in deep time. Here, we describe the basic organization of the adult hemichordate Saccoglossus kowalevskii nervous system using immunofluorescence, in situ hybridization, and transgenic reporters to visualize neurons, neuropil, and key neuronal cell types. Consistent with previous descriptions, we found the S. kowalevskii nervous system consists of a pervasive nerve plexus concentrated in the anterior, along with nerve cords on both the dorsal and ventral side. Neuronal cell types exhibited clear anteroposterior and dorsoventral regionalization in multiple areas of the body. We observed spatially demarcated expression patterns for many genes involved in synthesis or transport of neurotransmitters and neuropeptides but did not observe clear distinctions between putatively centralized and decentralized portions of the nervous system. The plexus shows regionalized structure and is consistent with the proboscis base as a major site for information processing rather than the dorsal nerve cord. In the trunk, there is a clear division of cell types between the dorsal and ventral cords, suggesting differences in function. The absence of neural processes crossing the basement membrane into muscle and extensive axonal varicosities suggest that volume transmission may play an important role in neural function. These data now facilitate more informed neural comparisons between hemichordates and other groups, contributing to broader debates on the origins and evolution of bilaterian nervous systems.
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Affiliation(s)
- José M. Andrade López
- Department of Biology, Stanford University, Stanford, California, United States of America
| | - Ariel M. Pani
- Departments of Biology and Cell Biology, University of Virginia, Charlottesville, Virginia, Unites States of America
| | - Mike Wu
- Department of Molecular and Cell Biology, University of California, Berkeley, California, Unites States of America
| | - John Gerhart
- Department of Molecular and Cell Biology, University of California, Berkeley, California, Unites States of America
| | - Christopher J. Lowe
- Department of Biology, Stanford University, Stanford, California, United States of America
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16
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Norekian TP, Moroz LL. Recording cilia activity in ctenophores: effects of nitric oxide and low molecular weight transmitters. Front Neurosci 2023; 17:1125476. [PMID: 37332869 PMCID: PMC10272528 DOI: 10.3389/fnins.2023.1125476] [Citation(s) in RCA: 3] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/16/2022] [Accepted: 05/03/2023] [Indexed: 06/20/2023] Open
Abstract
Cilia are the major effectors in Ctenophores, but very little is known about their transmitter control and integration. Here, we present a simple protocol to monitor and quantify cilia activity and provide evidence for polysynaptic control of cilia coordination in ctenophores. We also screened the effects of several classical bilaterian neurotransmitters (acetylcholine, dopamine, L-DOPA, serotonin, octopamine, histamine, gamma-aminobutyric acid (GABA), L-aspartate, L-glutamate, glycine), neuropeptide (FMRFamide), and nitric oxide (NO) on cilia beating in Pleurobrachia bachei and Bolinopsis infundibulum. NO and FMRFamide produced noticeable inhibitory effects on cilia activity, whereas other tested transmitters were ineffective. These findings further suggest that ctenophore-specific neuropeptides could be major candidates for signal molecules controlling cilia activity in representatives of this early-branching metazoan lineage.
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Affiliation(s)
- Tigran P. Norekian
- Whitney Laboratory for Marine Bioscience, University of Florida, St. Augustine, FL, United States
- Friday Harbor Laboratories, University of Washington, Friday Harbor, WA, United States
| | - Leonid L. Moroz
- Whitney Laboratory for Marine Bioscience, University of Florida, St. Augustine, FL, United States
- Departments of Neuroscience and McKnight, Brain Institute, University of Florida, Gainesville, FL, United States
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17
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Norekian TP, Moroz LL. Nitric oxide suppresses cilia activity in ctenophores. BIORXIV : THE PREPRINT SERVER FOR BIOLOGY 2023:2023.04.27.538508. [PMID: 37163038 PMCID: PMC10168380 DOI: 10.1101/2023.04.27.538508] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 05/11/2023]
Abstract
Cilia are the major effectors in Ctenophores, but very little is known about their transmitter control and integration. Here, we present a simple protocol to monitor and quantify cilia activity in semi-intact preparations and provide evidence for polysynaptic control of cilia coordination in ctenophores. Next, we screen the effects of several classical bilaterian neurotransmitters (acetylcholine, dopamine, L-DOPA, serotonin, octopamine, histamine, gamma-aminobutyric acid (GABA), L-aspartate, L-glutamate, glycine), neuropeptides (FMRFamide), and nitric oxide (NO) on cilia beating in Pleurobrachia bachei and Bolinopsis infundibulum . Only NO inhibited cilia beating, whereas other tested transmitters were ineffective. These findings further suggest that ctenophore-specific neuropeptides could be major candidate signaling molecules controlling cilia activity in representatives of this early-branching metazoan lineage.
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18
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Kanaev IA. Entropy and Cross-Level Orderliness in Light of the Interconnection between the Neural System and Consciousness. ENTROPY (BASEL, SWITZERLAND) 2023; 25:418. [PMID: 36981307 PMCID: PMC10047885 DOI: 10.3390/e25030418] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/30/2022] [Revised: 02/01/2023] [Accepted: 02/20/2023] [Indexed: 06/18/2023]
Abstract
Despite recent advances, the origin and utility of consciousness remains under debate. Using an evolutionary perspective on the origin of consciousness, this review elaborates on the promising theoretical background suggested in the temporospatial theory of consciousness, which outlines world-brain alignment as a critical predisposition for controlling behavior and adaptation. Such a system can be evolutionarily effective only if it can provide instant cohesion between the subsystems, which is possible only if it performs an intrinsic activity modified in light of the incoming stimulation. One can assume that the world-brain interaction results in a particular interference pattern predetermined by connectome complexity. This is what organisms experience as their exclusive subjective state, allowing the anticipation of regularities in the environment. Thus, an anticipative system can emerge only in a regular environment, which guides natural selection by reinforcing corresponding reactions and decreasing the system entropy. Subsequent evolution requires complicated, layered structures and can be traced from simple organisms to human consciousness and society. This allows us to consider the mode of entropy as a subject of natural evolution rather than an individual entity.
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Affiliation(s)
- Ilya A Kanaev
- Department of Philosophy, Sun Yat-sen University, 135 Xingang Xi Rd, Guangzhou 510275, China
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19
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Moroz LL, Romanova DY. Alternative neural systems: What is a neuron? (Ctenophores, sponges and placozoans). Front Cell Dev Biol 2022; 10:1071961. [PMID: 36619868 PMCID: PMC9816575 DOI: 10.3389/fcell.2022.1071961] [Citation(s) in RCA: 8] [Impact Index Per Article: 4.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/17/2022] [Accepted: 12/13/2022] [Indexed: 12/24/2022] Open
Abstract
How to make a neuron, a synapse, and a neural circuit? Is there only one 'design' for a neural architecture with a universally shared genomic blueprint across species? The brief answer is "No." Four early divergent lineages from the nerveless common ancestor of all animals independently evolved distinct neuroid-type integrative systems. One of these is a subset of neural nets in comb jellies with unique synapses; the second lineage is the well-known Cnidaria + Bilateria; the two others are non-synaptic neuroid systems in sponges and placozoans. By integrating scRNA-seq and microscopy data, we revise the definition of neurons as synaptically-coupled polarized and highly heterogenous secretory cells at the top of behavioral hierarchies with learning capabilities. This physiological (not phylogenetic) definition separates 'true' neurons from non-synaptically and gap junction-coupled integrative systems executing more stereotyped behaviors. Growing evidence supports the hypothesis of multiple origins of neurons and synapses. Thus, many non-bilaterian and bilaterian neuronal classes, circuits or systems are considered functional rather than genetic categories, composed of non-homologous cell types. In summary, little-explored examples of convergent neuronal evolution in representatives of early branching metazoans provide conceptually novel microanatomical and physiological architectures of behavioral controls in animals with prospects of neuro-engineering and synthetic biology.
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Affiliation(s)
- Leonid L. Moroz
- Departments of Neuroscience and McKnight Brain Institute, University of Florida, Gainesville, FL, United States,Whitney Laboratory for Marine Bioscience, University of Florida, St. Augustine, FL, United States,*Correspondence: Leonid L. Moroz, ; Daria Y. Romanova,
| | - Daria Y. Romanova
- Institute of Higher Nervous Activity and Neurophysiology of RAS, 5A Butlerova, Moscow, Russia,*Correspondence: Leonid L. Moroz, ; Daria Y. Romanova,
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20
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Harrison D, Rorot W, Laukaityte U. Mind the matter: Active matter, soft robotics, and the making of bio-inspired artificial intelligence. Front Neurorobot 2022; 16:880724. [PMID: 36620483 PMCID: PMC9815774 DOI: 10.3389/fnbot.2022.880724] [Citation(s) in RCA: 3] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/21/2022] [Accepted: 10/31/2022] [Indexed: 12/23/2022] Open
Abstract
Philosophical and theoretical debates on the multiple realisability of the cognitive have historically influenced discussions of the possible systems capable of instantiating complex functions like memory, learning, goal-directedness, and decision-making. These debates have had the corollary of undermining, if not altogether neglecting, the materiality and corporeality of cognition-treating material, living processes as "hardware" problems that can be abstracted out and, in principle, implemented in a variety of materials-in particular on digital computers and in the form of state-of-the-art neural networks. In sum, the matter in se has been taken not to matter for cognition. However, in this paper, we argue that the materiality of cognition-and the living, self-organizing processes that it enables-requires a more detailed assessment when understanding the nature of cognition and recreating it in the field of embodied robotics. Or, in slogan form, that the matter matters for cognitive form and function. We pull from the fields of Active Matter Physics, Soft Robotics, and Basal Cognition literature to suggest that the imbrication between material and cognitive processes is closer than standard accounts of multiple realisability suggest. In light of this, we propose upgrading the notion of multiple realisability from the standard version-what we call 1.0-to a more nuanced conception 2.0 to better reflect the recent empirical advancements, while at the same time averting many of the problems that have been raised for it. These fields are actively reshaping the terrain in which we understand materiality and how it enables, mediates, and constrains cognition. We propose that taking the materiality of our embodied, precarious nature seriously furnishes an important research avenue for the development of embodied robots that autonomously value, engage, and interact with the environment in a goal-directed manner, in response to existential needs of survival, persistence, and, ultimately, reproduction. Thus, we argue that by placing further emphasis on the soft, active, and plastic nature of the materials that constitute cognitive embodiment, we can move further in the direction of autonomous embodied robots and Artificial Intelligence.
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Affiliation(s)
- David Harrison
- Department of History and Philosophy of Science, University of Cambridge, Cambridge, United Kingdom,Leverhulme Centre for the Future of Intelligence, Cambridge, United Kingdom,Konrad Lorenz Institute for Evolution and Cognition Research, Vienna, Austria,*Correspondence: David Harrison
| | - Wiktor Rorot
- Human Interactivity and Language Lab, Faculty of Psychology, University of Warsaw, Warsaw, Poland,Wiktor Rorot
| | - Urte Laukaityte
- Department of Philosophy, University of California, Berkeley, Berkeley, CA, United States
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21
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The premetazoan ancestry of the synaptic toolkit and appearance of first neurons. Essays Biochem 2022; 66:781-795. [PMID: 36205407 DOI: 10.1042/ebc20220042] [Citation(s) in RCA: 7] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/22/2022] [Revised: 08/31/2022] [Accepted: 09/13/2022] [Indexed: 12/13/2022]
Abstract
Neurons, especially when coupled with muscles, allow animals to interact with and navigate through their environment in ways unique to life on earth. Found in all major animal lineages except sponges and placozoans, nervous systems range widely in organization and complexity, with neurons possibly representing the most diverse cell-type. This diversity has led to much debate over the evolutionary origin of neurons as well as synapses, which allow for the directed transmission of information. The broad phylogenetic distribution of neurons and presence of many of the defining components outside of animals suggests an early origin of this cell type, potentially in the time between the first animal and the last common ancestor of extant animals. Here, we highlight the occurrence and function of key aspects of neurons outside of animals as well as recent findings from non-bilaterian animals in order to make predictions about when and how the first neuron(s) arose during animal evolution and their relationship to those found in extant lineages. With advancing technologies in single cell transcriptomics and proteomics as well as expanding functional techniques in non-bilaterian animals and the close relatives of animals, it is an exciting time to begin unraveling the complex evolutionary history of this fascinating animal cell type.
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22
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Hayakawa E, Guzman C, Horiguchi O, Kawano C, Shiraishi A, Mohri K, Lin MF, Nakamura R, Nakamura R, Kawai E, Komoto S, Jokura K, Shiba K, Shigenobu S, Satake H, Inaba K, Watanabe H. Mass spectrometry of short peptides reveals common features of metazoan peptidergic neurons. Nat Ecol Evol 2022; 6:1438-1448. [PMID: 35941202 PMCID: PMC9525235 DOI: 10.1038/s41559-022-01835-7] [Citation(s) in RCA: 18] [Impact Index Per Article: 9.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/24/2022] [Accepted: 06/21/2022] [Indexed: 12/21/2022]
Abstract
The evolutionary origins of neurons remain unknown. Although recent genome data of extant early-branching animals have shown that neural genes existed in the common ancestor of animals, the physiological and genetic properties of neurons in the early evolutionary phase are still unclear. Here, we performed a mass spectrometry-based comprehensive survey of short peptides from early-branching lineages Cnidaria, Porifera and Ctenophora. We identified a number of mature ctenophore neuropeptides that are expressed in neurons associated with sensory, muscular and digestive systems. The ctenophore peptides are stored in vesicles in cell bodies and neurites, suggesting volume transmission similar to that of cnidarian and bilaterian peptidergic systems. A comparison of genetic characteristics revealed that the peptide-expressing cells of Cnidaria and Ctenophora express the vast majority of genes that have pivotal roles in maturation, secretion and degradation of neuropeptides in Bilateria. Functional analysis of neuropeptides and prediction of receptors with machine learning demonstrated peptide regulation of a wide range of target effector cells, including cells of muscular systems. The striking parallels between the peptidergic neuronal properties of Cnidaria and Bilateria and those of Ctenophora, the most basal neuron-bearing animals, suggest a common evolutionary origin of metazoan peptidergic nervous systems.
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Affiliation(s)
- Eisuke Hayakawa
- Evolutionary Neurobiology Unit, Okinawa Institute of Science and Technology Graduate University, Okinawa, Japan.
| | - Christine Guzman
- Evolutionary Neurobiology Unit, Okinawa Institute of Science and Technology Graduate University, Okinawa, Japan
| | - Osamu Horiguchi
- Evolutionary Neurobiology Unit, Okinawa Institute of Science and Technology Graduate University, Okinawa, Japan
| | - Chihiro Kawano
- Evolutionary Neurobiology Unit, Okinawa Institute of Science and Technology Graduate University, Okinawa, Japan
| | - Akira Shiraishi
- Bioorganic Research Institute, Suntory Foundation for Life Sciences, Kyoto, Japan
| | - Kurato Mohri
- Evolutionary Neurobiology Unit, Okinawa Institute of Science and Technology Graduate University, Okinawa, Japan
| | - Mei-Fang Lin
- Evolutionary Neurobiology Unit, Okinawa Institute of Science and Technology Graduate University, Okinawa, Japan
- College of Marine Sciences, National Sun Yat-Sen University, Kaohsiung, Taiwan
| | - Ryotaro Nakamura
- Evolutionary Neurobiology Unit, Okinawa Institute of Science and Technology Graduate University, Okinawa, Japan
| | - Ryo Nakamura
- Evolutionary Neurobiology Unit, Okinawa Institute of Science and Technology Graduate University, Okinawa, Japan
| | - Erina Kawai
- Evolutionary Neurobiology Unit, Okinawa Institute of Science and Technology Graduate University, Okinawa, Japan
- Marine Climate Change Unit, Okinawa Institute of Science and Technology Graduate University, Okinawa, Japan
| | - Shinya Komoto
- Evolutionary Neurobiology Unit, Okinawa Institute of Science and Technology Graduate University, Okinawa, Japan
- Imaging Section, Okinawa Institute of Science and Technology Graduate University, Okinawa, Japan
| | - Kei Jokura
- Shimoda Marine Research Center, University of Tsukuba, Shizuoka, Japan
- Living Systems Institute, University of Exeter, Exeter, UK
| | - Kogiku Shiba
- Shimoda Marine Research Center, University of Tsukuba, Shizuoka, Japan
| | - Shuji Shigenobu
- Center for the Development of New Model Organisms, National Institute for Basic Biology, Okazaki, Japan
| | - Honoo Satake
- Bioorganic Research Institute, Suntory Foundation for Life Sciences, Kyoto, Japan
| | - Kazuo Inaba
- Shimoda Marine Research Center, University of Tsukuba, Shizuoka, Japan
| | - Hiroshi Watanabe
- Evolutionary Neurobiology Unit, Okinawa Institute of Science and Technology Graduate University, Okinawa, Japan.
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23
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Sachkova MY. Neuropeptides at the origin of neurons. Nat Ecol Evol 2022; 6:1410-1411. [PMID: 35941203 DOI: 10.1038/s41559-022-01828-6] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/09/2022]
Affiliation(s)
- Maria Y Sachkova
- Sars International Centre for Marine Molecular Biology, University of Bergen, Bergen, Norway.
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24
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Single-cell transcriptomics identifies conserved regulators of neuroglandular lineages. Cell Rep 2022; 40:111370. [PMID: 36130520 DOI: 10.1016/j.celrep.2022.111370] [Citation(s) in RCA: 18] [Impact Index Per Article: 9.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/08/2022] [Revised: 07/01/2022] [Accepted: 08/25/2022] [Indexed: 11/23/2022] Open
Abstract
Communication in bilaterian nervous systems is mediated by electrical and secreted signals; however, the evolutionary origin and relation of neurons to other secretory cell types has not been elucidated. Here, we use developmental single-cell RNA sequencing in the cnidarian Nematostella vectensis, representing an early evolutionary lineage with a simple nervous system. Validated by transgenics, we demonstrate that neurons, stinging cells, and gland cells arise from a common multipotent progenitor population. We identify the conserved transcription factor gene SoxC as a key upstream regulator of all neuroglandular lineages and demonstrate that SoxC knockdown eliminates both neuronal and secretory cell types. While in vertebrates and many other bilaterians neurogenesis is largely restricted to early developmental stages, we show that in the sea anemone, differentiation of neuroglandular cells is maintained throughout all life stages, and follows the same molecular trajectories from embryo to adulthood, ensuring lifelong homeostasis of neuroglandular cell lineages.
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25
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Dandamudi M, Hausen H, Lynagh T. Comparative analysis defines a broader FMRFamide-gated sodium channel family and determinants of neuropeptide sensitivity. J Biol Chem 2022; 298:102086. [PMID: 35636513 PMCID: PMC9234716 DOI: 10.1016/j.jbc.2022.102086] [Citation(s) in RCA: 9] [Impact Index Per Article: 4.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/26/2022] [Revised: 05/19/2022] [Accepted: 05/25/2022] [Indexed: 12/23/2022] Open
Abstract
FMRFamide (Phe-Met-Arg-Phe-amide, FMRFa) and similar neuropeptides are important physiological modulators in most invertebrates, but the molecular basis of FMRFa activity at its receptors is unknown. We therefore sought to identify the molecular determinants of FMRFa potency against one of its native targets, the excitatory FMRFa-gated sodium channel (FaNaC) from gastropod mollusks. Using molecular phylogenetics and electrophysiological measurement of neuropeptide activity, we identified a broad FaNaC family that includes mollusk and annelid channels gated by FMRFa, FVRIamides, and/or Wamides (or myoinhibitory peptides). A comparative analysis of this broader FaNaC family and other channels from the overarching degenerin (DEG)/epithelial sodium channel (ENaC) superfamily, incorporating mutagenesis and experimental dissection of channel function, identified a pocket of amino acid residues that determines activation of FaNaCs by neuropeptides. Although this pocket has diverged in distantly related DEG/ENaC channels that are activated by other ligands but enhanced by FMRFa, such as mammalian acid-sensing ion channels, we show that it nonetheless contains residues that determine enhancement of those channels by similar peptides. This study thus identifies amino acid residues that determine FMRFa neuropeptide activity at FaNaC receptor channels and illuminates the evolution of ligand recognition in one branch of the DEG/ENaC superfamily of ion channels.
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Affiliation(s)
- Mowgli Dandamudi
- Sars International Centre for Marine Molecular Biology, University of Bergen, Bergen, Norway
| | - Harald Hausen
- Sars International Centre for Marine Molecular Biology, University of Bergen, Bergen, Norway; Department of Earth Science, University of Bergen, Bergen, Norway
| | - Timothy Lynagh
- Sars International Centre for Marine Molecular Biology, University of Bergen, Bergen, Norway.
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26
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Smith SJ, von Zastrow M. A Molecular Landscape of Mouse Hippocampal Neuromodulation. Front Neural Circuits 2022; 16:836930. [PMID: 35601530 PMCID: PMC9120848 DOI: 10.3389/fncir.2022.836930] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/16/2021] [Accepted: 03/30/2022] [Indexed: 12/23/2022] Open
Abstract
Adaptive neuronal circuit function requires a continual adjustment of synaptic network parameters known as “neuromodulation.” This process is now understood to be based primarily on the binding of myriad secreted “modulatory” ligands such as dopamine, serotonin and the neuropeptides to G protein-coupled receptors (GPCRs) that, in turn, regulate the function of the ion channels that establish synaptic weights and membrane excitability. Many of the basic molecular mechanisms of neuromodulation are now known, but the organization of neuromodulation at a network level is still an enigma. New single-cell RNA sequencing data and transcriptomic neurotaxonomies now offer bright new lights to shine on this critical “dark matter” of neuroscience. Here we leverage these advances to explore the cell-type-specific expression of genes encoding GPCRs, modulatory ligands, ion channels and intervening signal transduction molecules in mouse hippocampus area CA1, with the goal of revealing broad outlines of this well-studied brain structure’s neuromodulatory network architecture.
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Affiliation(s)
- Stephen J Smith
- Allen Institute for Brain Science, Seattle, WA, United States
- *Correspondence: Stephen J Smith,
| | - Mark von Zastrow
- Departments of Psychiatry and Pharmacology, University of California, San Francisco, San Francisco, CA, United States
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Tournière O, Gahan JM, Busengdal H, Bartsch N, Rentzsch F. Insm1-expressing neurons and secretory cells develop from a common pool of progenitors in the sea anemone Nematostella vectensis. SCIENCE ADVANCES 2022; 8:eabi7109. [PMID: 35442742 PMCID: PMC9020782 DOI: 10.1126/sciadv.abi7109] [Citation(s) in RCA: 4] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/15/2021] [Accepted: 03/02/2022] [Indexed: 06/01/2023]
Abstract
Neurons are highly specialized cells present in nearly all animals, but their evolutionary origin and relationship to other cell types are not well understood. We use here the sea anemone Nematostella vectensis as a model system for early-branching animals to gain fresh insights into the evolutionary history of neurons. We generated a transgenic reporter line to show that the transcription factor NvInsm1 is expressed in postmitotic cells that give rise to various types of neurons and secretory cells. Expression analyses, double transgenics, and gene knockdown experiments show that the NvInsm1-expressing neurons and secretory cells derive from a common pool of NvSoxB(2)-positive progenitor cells. These findings, together with the requirement for Insm1 for the development of neurons and endocrine cells in vertebrates, support a close evolutionary relationship of neurons and secretory cells.
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Affiliation(s)
- Océane Tournière
- Sars International Centre for Marine Molecular Biology, University of Bergen, 5006 Bergen, Norway
| | - James M. Gahan
- Sars International Centre for Marine Molecular Biology, University of Bergen, 5006 Bergen, Norway
| | - Henriette Busengdal
- Sars International Centre for Marine Molecular Biology, University of Bergen, 5006 Bergen, Norway
| | - Natascha Bartsch
- Sars International Centre for Marine Molecular Biology, University of Bergen, 5006 Bergen, Norway
- Department of Biological Sciences, University of Bergen, 5006 Bergen, Norway
| | - Fabian Rentzsch
- Sars International Centre for Marine Molecular Biology, University of Bergen, 5006 Bergen, Norway
- Department of Biological Sciences, University of Bergen, 5006 Bergen, Norway
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28
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Dyakonova VE. Origin and Evolution of the Nervous System: New Data from Comparative Whole Genome Studies of Multicellular Animals. Russ J Dev Biol 2022. [DOI: 10.1134/s1062360422010088] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/23/2022]
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29
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Abstract
Neuropeptides are a diverse class of signaling molecules in metazoans. They occur in all animals with a nervous system and also in neuron-less placozoans. However, their origin has remained unclear because no neuropeptide shows deep homology across lineages, and none have been found in sponges. Here, we identify two neuropeptide precursors, phoenixin (PNX) and nesfatin, with broad evolutionary conservation. By database searches, sequence alignments, and gene-structure comparisons, we show that both precursors are present in bilaterians, cnidarians, ctenophores, and sponges. We also found PNX and a secreted nesfatin precursor homolog in the choanoflagellate Salpingoeca rosetta. PNX, in particular, is highly conserved, including its cleavage sites, suggesting that prohormone processing occurs also in choanoflagellates. In addition, based on phyletic patterns and negative pharmacological assays, we question the originally proposed GPR-173 (SREB3) as a PNX receptor. Our findings revealed that secreted neuropeptide homologs derived from longer precursors have premetazoan origins and thus evolved before neurons.
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Affiliation(s)
| | - Daniel Thiel
- Living Systems Institute, University of Exeter, Stocker Road, Exeter, UK
| | - Gáspár Jékely
- Living Systems Institute, University of Exeter, Stocker Road, Exeter, UK
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30
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The neuropeptide Pth2 modulates social behavior and anxiety in zebrafish. iScience 2022; 25:103868. [PMID: 35243231 PMCID: PMC8861652 DOI: 10.1016/j.isci.2022.103868] [Citation(s) in RCA: 3] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/27/2021] [Revised: 12/16/2021] [Accepted: 02/01/2022] [Indexed: 01/09/2023] Open
Abstract
Behavior is context-dependent and often modulated by an animal’s internal state. In particular, different social contexts can alter anxiety levels and modulate social behavior. The vertebrate-specific neuropeptide parathyroid hormone 2 (pth2) is regulated by the presence of conspecifics in zebrafish. As its cognate receptor, the parathyroid hormone 2 receptor (pth2r), is widely expressed across the brain, we tested fish lacking the functional Pth2 peptide in several anxiety-related and social behavior paradigms. Here, we show that the propensity to react to sudden stimuli with an escape response was increased in pth2−/− zebrafish, consistent with an elevated anxiety level. While overall social preference for conspecifics was maintained in pth2−/− fish until the early juvenile stage, we found that both social preference and shoaling were altered later in development. The data presented suggest that the neuropeptide Pth2 modulates several conserved behaviors and may thus enable the animal to react appropriately in different social contexts. Lack of the neuropeptide pth2 increases startle responsiveness in zebrafish Social preference is decreased at the late juvenile stage in pth2 mutants Pth2 mutant fish form less cohesive shoals
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31
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Cell-type-specific neuromodulation guides synaptic credit assignment in a spiking neural network. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A 2021; 118:2111821118. [PMID: 34916291 PMCID: PMC8713766 DOI: 10.1073/pnas.2111821118] [Citation(s) in RCA: 9] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Accepted: 10/28/2021] [Indexed: 12/27/2022] Open
Abstract
Synaptic connectivity provides the foundation for our present understanding of neuronal network function, but static connectivity cannot explain learning and memory. We propose a computational role for the diversity of cortical neuronal types and their associated cell-type–specific neuromodulators in improving the efficiency of synaptic weight adjustments for task learning in neuronal networks. Brains learn tasks via experience-driven differential adjustment of their myriad individual synaptic connections, but the mechanisms that target appropriate adjustment to particular connections remain deeply enigmatic. While Hebbian synaptic plasticity, synaptic eligibility traces, and top-down feedback signals surely contribute to solving this synaptic credit-assignment problem, alone, they appear to be insufficient. Inspired by new genetic perspectives on neuronal signaling architectures, here, we present a normative theory for synaptic learning, where we predict that neurons communicate their contribution to the learning outcome to nearby neurons via cell-type–specific local neuromodulation. Computational tests suggest that neuron-type diversity and neuron-type–specific local neuromodulation may be critical pieces of the biological credit-assignment puzzle. They also suggest algorithms for improved artificial neural network learning efficiency.
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32
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Williams EA, Jékely G. Nervous systems: Neuropeptides define enigmatic comb-jelly neurons. Curr Biol 2021; 31:R1515-R1517. [PMID: 34875238 DOI: 10.1016/j.cub.2021.10.054] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/30/2022]
Abstract
The apparently simple nerve net of comb-jellies has long intrigued biologists. A new study identifies multiple unique neuropeptides in the comb-jelly nervous system and exploits these as indicators of neuronal identity and morphology.
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Affiliation(s)
- Elizabeth A Williams
- College of Live and Environmental Sciences, Biosciences, University of Exeter, Stocker Road, Exeter EX4 4QD, UK.
| | - Gáspár Jékely
- Living Systems Institute, University of Exeter, Stocker Road, Exeter EX4 4QD, UK.
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33
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Burkhardt P, Jékely G. Evolution of synapses and neurotransmitter systems: The divide-and-conquer model for early neural cell-type evolution. Curr Opin Neurobiol 2021; 71:127-138. [PMID: 34826676 DOI: 10.1016/j.conb.2021.11.002] [Citation(s) in RCA: 7] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/02/2021] [Revised: 09/09/2021] [Accepted: 11/02/2021] [Indexed: 01/08/2023]
Abstract
Nervous systems evolved around 560 million years ago to coordinate and empower animal bodies. Ctenophores - one of the earliest-branching lineages - are thought to share a few neuronal genes with bilaterians and may have evolved neurons convergently. Here we review our current understanding of the evolution of neuronal molecules in nonbilaterians. We also reanalyse single-cell sequencing data in light of new cell-cluster identities from a ctenophore and uncover evidence supporting the homology of one ctenophore neuron-type with neurons in Bilateria. The specific coexpression of the presynaptic proteins Unc13 and RIM with voltage-gated channels, neuropeptides and homeobox genes pinpoint a spiking sensory-peptidergic cell in the ctenophore mouth. Similar Unc13-RIM neurons may have been present in the first eumetazoans to rise to dominance only in stem Bilateria. We hypothesise that the Unc13-RIM lineage ancestrally innervated the mouth and conquered other parts of the body with the rise of macrophagy and predation during the Cambrian explosion.
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Affiliation(s)
- Pawel Burkhardt
- Sars International Centre for Marine Molecular Biology, University of Bergen, Norway.
| | - Gáspár Jékely
- Living Systems Institute, University of Exeter, Stocker Road, Exeter, UK.
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34
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Chari T, Weissbourd B, Gehring J, Ferraioli A, Leclère L, Herl M, Gao F, Chevalier S, Copley RR, Houliston E, Anderson DJ, Pachter L. Whole-animal multiplexed single-cell RNA-seq reveals transcriptional shifts across Clytia medusa cell types. SCIENCE ADVANCES 2021; 7:eabh1683. [PMID: 34826233 PMCID: PMC8626072 DOI: 10.1126/sciadv.abh1683] [Citation(s) in RCA: 35] [Impact Index Per Article: 11.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/20/2021] [Accepted: 10/06/2021] [Indexed: 05/12/2023]
Abstract
We present an organism-wide, transcriptomic cell atlas of the hydrozoan medusa Clytia hemisphaerica and describe how its component cell types respond to perturbation. Using multiplexed single-cell RNA sequencing, in which individual animals were indexed and pooled from control and perturbation conditions into a single sequencing run, we avoid artifacts from batch effects and are able to discern shifts in cell state in response to organismal perturbations. This work serves as a foundation for future studies of development, function, and regeneration in a genetically tractable jellyfish species. Moreover, we introduce a powerful workflow for high-resolution, whole-animal, multiplexed single-cell genomics that is readily adaptable to other traditional or nontraditional model organisms.
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Affiliation(s)
- Tara Chari
- Division of Biology and Biological Engineering, California Institute of Technology, Pasadena, CA 91125, USA
| | - Brandon Weissbourd
- Division of Biology and Biological Engineering, California Institute of Technology, Pasadena, CA 91125, USA
- Tianqiao and Chrissy Chen Institute for Neuroscience, Pasadena, CA 91125, USA
- Howard Hughes Medical Institute, California Institute of Technology, Pasadena, CA 91125, USA
| | - Jase Gehring
- Department of Genome Sciences, University of Washington, Seattle, WA 98195, USA
| | - Anna Ferraioli
- Sorbonne Université, CNRS, Laboratoire de Biologie du Développement de Villefranche-sur-mer (LBDV), 06230, France
| | - Lucas Leclère
- Sorbonne Université, CNRS, Laboratoire de Biologie du Développement de Villefranche-sur-mer (LBDV), 06230, France
| | - Makenna Herl
- University of New Hampshire School of Law, Concord, NH 03301, USA
| | - Fan Gao
- Caltech Bioinformatics Resource Center, California Institute of Technology, Pasadena, CA 91125, USA
| | - Sandra Chevalier
- Sorbonne Université, CNRS, Laboratoire de Biologie du Développement de Villefranche-sur-mer (LBDV), 06230, France
| | - Richard R. Copley
- Sorbonne Université, CNRS, Laboratoire de Biologie du Développement de Villefranche-sur-mer (LBDV), 06230, France
| | - Evelyn Houliston
- Sorbonne Université, CNRS, Laboratoire de Biologie du Développement de Villefranche-sur-mer (LBDV), 06230, France
| | - David J. Anderson
- Division of Biology and Biological Engineering, California Institute of Technology, Pasadena, CA 91125, USA
- Tianqiao and Chrissy Chen Institute for Neuroscience, Pasadena, CA 91125, USA
- Howard Hughes Medical Institute, California Institute of Technology, Pasadena, CA 91125, USA
| | - Lior Pachter
- Division of Biology and Biological Engineering, California Institute of Technology, Pasadena, CA 91125, USA
- Department of Computing and Mathematical Sciences, California Institute of Technology, Pasadena, CA 91125, USA
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35
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Smith SJ. Transcriptomic evidence for dense peptidergic networks within forebrains of four widely divergent tetrapods. Curr Opin Neurobiol 2021; 71:100-109. [PMID: 34775262 DOI: 10.1016/j.conb.2021.09.011] [Citation(s) in RCA: 5] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/01/2021] [Revised: 09/21/2021] [Accepted: 09/27/2021] [Indexed: 12/15/2022]
Abstract
The primary function common to every neuron is communication with other neurons. Such cell-cell signaling can take numerous forms, including fast synaptic transmission and slower neuromodulation via secreted messengers, such as neuropeptides, dopamine, and many other diffusible small molecules. Individual neurons are quite diverse, however, in all particulars of both synaptic and neuromodulatory communication. Neuron classification schemes have therefore proven very useful in exploring the emergence of network function, behavior, and cognition from the communication functions of individual neurons. Recently published single-cell mRNA sequencing data and corresponding transcriptomic neuron classifications from turtle, songbird, mouse, and human provide evidence for a long evolutionary history and adaptive significance of localized peptidergic signaling. Across all four species, sets of at least twenty orthologous cognate pairs of neuropeptide precursor protein and receptor genes are expressed in individually sparse but heavily overlapping patterns suggesting that all forebrain neuron types are densely interconnected by local peptidergic signals.
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36
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Neuropeptide repertoire and 3D anatomy of the ctenophore nervous system. Curr Biol 2021; 31:5274-5285.e6. [PMID: 34587474 DOI: 10.1016/j.cub.2021.09.005] [Citation(s) in RCA: 40] [Impact Index Per Article: 13.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/09/2021] [Revised: 07/20/2021] [Accepted: 09/02/2021] [Indexed: 11/24/2022]
Abstract
Ctenophores are gelatinous marine animals famous for locomotion by ciliary combs. Due to the uncertainties of the phylogenetic placement of ctenophores and the absence of some key bilaterian neuronal genes, it has been hypothesized that their neurons evolved independently. Additionally, recent whole-body, single-cell RNA sequencing (scRNA-seq) analysis failed to identify ctenophore neurons using any of the known neuronal molecular markers. To reveal the molecular machinery of ctenophore neurons, we have characterized the neuropeptide repertoire of the ctenophore Mnemiopsis leidyi. Using the machine learning NeuroPID tool, we predicted 129 new putative neuropeptide precursors. Sixteen of them were localized to the subepithelial nerve net (SNN), sensory aboral organ (AO), and epithelial sensory cells (ESCs), providing evidence that they are neuropeptide precursors. Four of these putative neuropeptides had a behavioral effect and increased the animals' swimming speed. Intriguingly, these putative neuropeptides finally allowed us to identify neuronal cell types in single-cell transcriptomic data and reveal the molecular identity of ctenophore neurons. High-resolution electron microscopy and 3D reconstructions of the nerve net underlying the comb plates confirmed a more than 100-year-old hypothesis of anastomoses between neurites of the same cell in ctenophores and revealed that they occur through a continuous membrane. Our work demonstrates the unique ultrastructure of the peptidergic nerve net and a rich neuropeptide repertoire of ctenophores, supporting the hypothesis that the first nervous system(s) evolved as nets of peptidergic cells.
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37
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Moroz LL, Nikitin MA, Poličar PG, Kohn AB, Romanova DY. Evolution of glutamatergic signaling and synapses. Neuropharmacology 2021; 199:108740. [PMID: 34343611 DOI: 10.1016/j.neuropharm.2021.108740] [Citation(s) in RCA: 33] [Impact Index Per Article: 11.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/04/2021] [Revised: 07/28/2021] [Accepted: 07/29/2021] [Indexed: 12/13/2022]
Abstract
Glutamate (Glu) is the primary excitatory transmitter in the mammalian brain. But, we know little about the evolutionary history of this adaptation, including the selection of l-glutamate as a signaling molecule in the first place. Here, we used comparative metabolomics and genomic data to reconstruct the genealogy of glutamatergic signaling. The origin of Glu-mediated communications might be traced to primordial nitrogen and carbon metabolic pathways. The versatile chemistry of L-Glu placed this molecule at the crossroad of cellular biochemistry as one of the most abundant metabolites. From there, innovations multiplied. Many stress factors or injuries could increase extracellular glutamate concentration, which led to the development of modular molecular systems for its rapid sensing in bacteria and archaea. More than 20 evolutionarily distinct families of ionotropic glutamate receptors (iGluRs) have been identified in eukaryotes. The domain compositions of iGluRs correlate with the origins of multicellularity in eukaryotes. Although L-Glu was recruited as a neuro-muscular transmitter in the early-branching metazoans, it was predominantly a non-neuronal messenger, with a possibility that glutamatergic synapses evolved more than once. Furthermore, the molecular secretory complexity of glutamatergic synapses in invertebrates (e.g., Aplysia) can exceed their vertebrate counterparts. Comparative genomics also revealed 15+ subfamilies of iGluRs across Metazoa. However, most of this ancestral diversity had been lost in the vertebrate lineage, preserving AMPA, Kainate, Delta, and NMDA receptors. The widespread expansion of glutamate synapses in the cortical areas might be associated with the enhanced metabolic demands of the complex brain and compartmentalization of Glu signaling within modular neuronal ensembles.
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Affiliation(s)
- Leonid L Moroz
- Whitney Laboratory for Marine Biosciences, University of Florida, St. Augustine, FL, 32080, USA; Departments of Neuroscience and McKnight Brain Institute, University of Florida, Gainesville, FL, 32610, USA.
| | - Mikhail A Nikitin
- Belozersky Institute of Physico-Chemical Biology, Moscow State University, Moscow, 119991, Russia; Kharkevich Institute for Information Transmission Problems, Russian Academy of Sciences, Moscow, 127994, Russia
| | - Pavlin G Poličar
- Whitney Laboratory for Marine Biosciences, University of Florida, St. Augustine, FL, 32080, USA; Faculty of Computer and Information Science, University of Ljubljana, SI-1000, Ljubljana, Slovenia
| | - Andrea B Kohn
- Whitney Laboratory for Marine Biosciences, University of Florida, St. Augustine, FL, 32080, USA
| | - Daria Y Romanova
- Cellular Neurobiology of Learning Lab, Institute of Higher Nervous Activity and Neurophysiology, Moscow, 117485, Russia.
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38
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Moroz LL. Multiple Origins of Neurons From Secretory Cells. Front Cell Dev Biol 2021; 9:669087. [PMID: 34307354 PMCID: PMC8293673 DOI: 10.3389/fcell.2021.669087] [Citation(s) in RCA: 22] [Impact Index Per Article: 7.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/17/2021] [Accepted: 05/26/2021] [Indexed: 12/12/2022] Open
Affiliation(s)
- Leonid L. Moroz
- Department of Neuroscience, McKnight Brain Institute, University of Florida, Gainesville, FL, United States
- Whitney Laboratory for Marine Biosciences, University of Florida, St. Augustine, FL, United States
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39
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Göhde R, Naumann B, Laundon D, Imig C, McDonald K, Cooper BH, Varoqueaux F, Fasshauer D, Burkhardt P. Choanoflagellates and the ancestry of neurosecretory vesicles. Philos Trans R Soc Lond B Biol Sci 2021; 376:20190759. [PMID: 33550951 PMCID: PMC7934909 DOI: 10.1098/rstb.2019.0759] [Citation(s) in RCA: 14] [Impact Index Per Article: 4.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Accepted: 11/26/2020] [Indexed: 01/08/2023] Open
Abstract
Neurosecretory vesicles are highly specialized trafficking organelles that store neurotransmitters that are released at presynaptic nerve endings and are, therefore, important for animal cell-cell signalling. Despite considerable anatomical and functional diversity of neurons in animals, the protein composition of neurosecretory vesicles in bilaterians appears to be similar. This similarity points towards a common evolutionary origin. Moreover, many putative homologues of key neurosecretory vesicle proteins predate the origin of the first neurons, and some even the origin of the first animals. However, little is known about the molecular toolkit of these vesicles in non-bilaterian animals and their closest unicellular relatives, making inferences about the evolutionary origin of neurosecretory vesicles extremely difficult. By comparing 28 proteins of the core neurosecretory vesicle proteome in 13 different species, we demonstrate that most of the proteins are present in unicellular organisms. Surprisingly, we find that the vesicular membrane-associated soluble N-ethylmaleimide-sensitive factor attachment protein receptor protein synaptobrevin is localized to the vesicle-rich apical and basal pole in the choanoflagellate Salpingoeca rosetta. Our 3D vesicle reconstructions reveal that the choanoflagellates S. rosetta and Monosiga brevicollis exhibit a polarized and diverse vesicular landscape reminiscent of the polarized organization of chemical synapses that secrete the content of neurosecretory vesicles into the synaptic cleft. This study sheds light on the ancestral molecular machinery of neurosecretory vesicles and provides a framework to understand the origin and evolution of secretory cells, synapses and neurons. This article is part of the theme issue 'Basal cognition: multicellularity, neurons and the cognitive lens'.
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Affiliation(s)
- Ronja Göhde
- Sars International Centre for Molecular Marine Biology, University of Bergen, 5006 Bergen, Norway
| | - Benjamin Naumann
- Institute of Zoology and Evolutionary Research, Friedrich Schiller University Jena, 07743 Jena, Germany
| | - Davis Laundon
- Marine Biological Association of the United Kingdom, The Laboratory, Citadel Hill, Plymouth PL1 2PB, UK
| | - Cordelia Imig
- Department of Molecular Neurobiology, Max Planck Institute of Experimental Medicine, 37075 Gottingen, Germany
| | - Kent McDonald
- Electron Microscope Laboratory, University of California, Berkeley, CA 94720, USA
| | - Benjamin H. Cooper
- Department of Molecular Neurobiology, Max Planck Institute of Experimental Medicine, 37075 Gottingen, Germany
| | - Frédérique Varoqueaux
- Department of Fundamental Neurosciences, University of Lausanne, 1005 Lausanne, Switzerland
| | - Dirk Fasshauer
- Department of Fundamental Neurosciences, University of Lausanne, 1005 Lausanne, Switzerland
| | - Pawel Burkhardt
- Sars International Centre for Molecular Marine Biology, University of Bergen, 5006 Bergen, Norway
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40
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Abstract
The evolutionary origin of the nervous system has been a matter of long-standing debate. This is due to the different perspectives taken. Earlier studies addressed nervous system origins at the cellular level. They focused on the selective advantage of the first neuron in its local context, and considered vertical sensory-motor reflex arcs the first nervous system. Later studies emphasized the value of the nervous system at the tissue level. Rather than acting locally, early neurons were seen as part of an elementary nerve net that enabled the horizontal coordination of tissue movements. Opinions have also differed on the nature of effector cells. While most authors have favoured contractile systems, others see the key output of the incipient nervous system in the coordination of motile cilia, or the secretion of antimicrobial peptides. I will discuss these divergent views and explore how they can be validated by molecular and single-cell data. From this survey, possible consensus emerges: (i) the first manifestation of the nervous system likely was a nerve net, whereas specialized local circuits evolved later; (ii) different nerve nets may have evolved for the coordination of contractile or cilia-driven movements; (iii) all evolving nerve nets facilitated new forms of animal behaviour with increasing body size. This article is part of the theme issue 'Basal cognition: multicellularity, neurons and the cognitive lens'.
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Affiliation(s)
- Detlev Arendt
- Developmental Biology Unit, European Molecular Biology Laboratory, Heidelberg, Germany
- Centre for Organismal Studies, University of Heidelberg, Heidelberg, Germany
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41
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Lyon P, Keijzer F, Arendt D, Levin M. Reframing cognition: getting down to biological basics. Philos Trans R Soc Lond B Biol Sci 2021; 376:20190750. [PMID: 33487107 PMCID: PMC7935032 DOI: 10.1098/rstb.2019.0750] [Citation(s) in RCA: 57] [Impact Index Per Article: 19.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Accepted: 12/07/2020] [Indexed: 12/12/2022] Open
Abstract
The premise of this two-part theme issue is simple: the cognitive sciences should join the rest of the life sciences in how they approach the quarry within their research domain. Specifically, understanding how organisms on the lower branches of the phylogenetic tree become familiar with, value and exploit elements of an ecological niche while avoiding harm can be expected to aid understanding of how organisms that evolved later (including Homo sapiens) do the same or similar things. We call this approach basal cognition. In this introductory essay, we explain what the approach involves. Because no definition of cognition exists that reflects its biological basis, we advance a working definition that can be operationalized; introduce a behaviour-generating toolkit of capacities that comprise the function (e.g. sensing/perception, memory, valence, learning, decision making, communication), each element of which can be studied relatively independently; and identify a (necessarily incomplete) suite of common biophysical mechanisms found throughout the domains of life involved in implementing the toolkit. The articles in this collection illuminate different aspects of basal cognition across different forms of biological organization, from prokaryotes and single-celled eukaryotes-the focus of Part 1-to plants and finally to animals, without and with nervous systems, the focus of Part 2. By showcasing work in diverse, currently disconnected fields, we hope to sketch the outline of a new multidisciplinary approach for comprehending cognition, arguably the most fascinating and hard-to-fathom evolved function on this planet. Doing so has the potential to shed light on problems in a wide variety of research domains, including microbiology, immunology, zoology, biophysics, botany, developmental biology, neurobiology/science, regenerative medicine, computational biology, artificial life and synthetic bioengineering. This article is part of the theme issue 'Basal cognition: conceptual tools and the view from the single cell'.
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Affiliation(s)
- Pamela Lyon
- Southgate Institute for Health, Society and Equity, College of Medicine and Public Health, Flinders University, Adelaide, SA 5042, Australia
| | - Fred Keijzer
- Department of Theoretical Philosophy, Universityof Groningen, Oude Boteringestraat 52, Groningen 9712GL, The Netherlands
| | - Detlev Arendt
- Developmental Biology Unit, European Molecular Biology Laboratory, Meyerhofstraße 1, 69012 Heidelberg, Germany
- Centre for Organismal Studies, Heidelberg University, Im Neuenheimer Feld 230, 69120 Heidelberg, Germany
| | - Michael Levin
- Allen Discovery Center at Tufts University, Medford, MA 02155, USA
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Levin M, Keijzer F, Lyon P, Arendt D. Uncovering cognitive similarities and differences, conservation and innovation. Philos Trans R Soc Lond B Biol Sci 2021; 376:20200458. [PMID: 33550950 DOI: 10.1098/rstb.2020.0458] [Citation(s) in RCA: 14] [Impact Index Per Article: 4.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 12/14/2022] Open
Abstract
This article is part of the theme issue 'Basal cognition: multicellularity, neurons and the cognitive lens'.
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Affiliation(s)
- Michael Levin
- Allen Discovery Center at Tufts University, Medford, MA 02155, USA
| | - Fred Keijzer
- Department of Theoretical Philosophy, University of Groningen, Oude Boteringestraat 52, Groningen 9712GL, The Netherlands
| | - Pamela Lyon
- Southgate Institute for Health, Society and Equity, College of Medicine and Public Health, Flinders University, Adelaide SA 5042, Australia
| | - Detlev Arendt
- Developmental Biology Unit, European Molecular Biology Laboratory, Meyerhofstraße 1, 69012 Heidelberg, Germany.,Centre for Organismal Studies, Heidelberg University, Im Neuenheimer Feld 230, 69120 Heidelberg, Germany
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