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Levy M, Jing J, Susswein AJ. An in vitro analog of learning that food is inedible in Aplysia: decreased responses to a transmitter signaling food after pairing with transmitters signaling failed swallowing. Learn Mem 2023; 30:278-281. [PMID: 37852783 PMCID: PMC10631127 DOI: 10.1101/lm.053867.123] [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: 08/09/2023] [Accepted: 09/13/2023] [Indexed: 10/20/2023]
Abstract
An in vitro analog of learning that a food is inedible provided insight into mechanisms underlying the learning. Aplysia learn to stop responding to a food when they attempt but fail to swallow it. Pairing a cholinergic agonist with an NO donor or histamine in the Aplysia cerebral ganglion produced significant decreases in fictive feeding in response to the cholinergic agonist alone. Acetylcholine (ACh) is the transmitter of chemoreceptors sensing food touching the lips. Nitric oxide (NO) and histamine (HA) signal failed attempts to swallow food. Reduced responses to the cholinergic agonist after pairing with NO or HA indicate that learning partially arises via a decreased response to ACh in the cerebral ganglion.
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Affiliation(s)
- Miryam Levy
- Gonda (Goldschmied) Brain Research Center, Goodman Faculty of Life Science, Bar Ilan University, Ramat Gan 52900, Israel
| | - Jian Jing
- State Key Laboratory of Pharmaceutical Biotechnology, Institute for Brain Sciences, School Life Sciences, Nanjing University, Jiangsu 210023, China
| | - Abraham J Susswein
- Gonda (Goldschmied) Brain Research Center, Goodman Faculty of Life Science, Bar Ilan University, Ramat Gan 52900, Israel
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2
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Evans CG, Barry MA, Perkins MH, Jing J, Weiss KR, Cropper EC. Variable task switching in the feeding network of Aplysia is a function of differential command input. J Neurophysiol 2023; 130:941-952. [PMID: 37671445 PMCID: PMC10648941 DOI: 10.1152/jn.00190.2023] [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: 05/11/2023] [Revised: 08/09/2023] [Accepted: 08/31/2023] [Indexed: 09/07/2023] Open
Abstract
Command systems integrate sensory information and then activate the interneurons and motor neurons that mediate behavior. Much research has established that the higher-order projection neurons that constitute these systems can play a key role in specifying the nature of the motor activity induced, or determining its parametric features. To a large extent, these insights have been obtained by contrasting activity induced by stimulating one neuron (or set of neurons) to activity induced by stimulating a different neuron (or set of neurons). The focus of our work differs. We study one type of motor program, ingestive feeding in the mollusc Aplysia californica, which can either be triggered when a single projection neuron (CBI-2) is repeatedly stimulated or can be triggered by projection neuron coactivation (e.g., activation of CBI-2 and CBI-3). We ask why this might be an advantageous arrangement. The cellular/molecular mechanisms that configure motor activity are different in the two situations because the released neurotransmitters differ. We focus on an important consequence of this arrangement, the fact that a persistent state can be induced with repeated CBI-2 stimulation that is not necessarily induced by CBI-2/3 coactivation. We show that this difference can have consequences for the ability of the system to switch from one type of activity to another.NEW & NOTEWORTHY We study a type of motor program that can be induced either by stimulating a higher-order projection neuron that induces a persistent state, or by coactivating projection neurons that configure activity but do not produce a state change. We show that when an activity is configured without a state change, it is possible to immediately return to an intermediate state that subsequently can be converted to any type of motor program.
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Affiliation(s)
- Colin G Evans
- Department of Neuroscience, Friedman Brain Institute, Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, New York, New York, United States
| | - Michael A Barry
- Department of Neuroscience, Friedman Brain Institute, Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, New York, New York, United States
| | - Matthew H Perkins
- Department of Neuroscience, Friedman Brain Institute, Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, New York, New York, United States
| | - Jian Jing
- Department of Neuroscience, Friedman Brain Institute, Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, New York, New York, United States
- State Key Laboratory of Pharmaceutical Biotechnology, Institute for Brain Sciences, Chemistry and Biomedicine Innovation Center, Jiangsu Engineering Research Center for MicroRNA Biology and Biotechnology, Advanced Institute for Life Sciences, School of Life Sciences, Nanjing University, Nanjing, China
| | - Klaudiusz R Weiss
- Department of Neuroscience, Friedman Brain Institute, Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, New York, New York, United States
| | - Elizabeth C Cropper
- Department of Neuroscience, Friedman Brain Institute, Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, New York, New York, United States
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3
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Blitz DM. Neural circuit regulation by identified modulatory projection neurons. Front Neurosci 2023; 17:1154769. [PMID: 37008233 PMCID: PMC10063799 DOI: 10.3389/fnins.2023.1154769] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/31/2023] [Accepted: 03/01/2023] [Indexed: 03/19/2023] Open
Abstract
Rhythmic behaviors (e.g., walking, breathing, and chewing) are produced by central pattern generator (CPG) circuits. These circuits are highly dynamic due to a multitude of input they receive from hormones, sensory neurons, and modulatory projection neurons. Such inputs not only turn CPG circuits on and off, but they adjust their synaptic and cellular properties to select behaviorally relevant outputs that last from seconds to hours. Similar to the contributions of fully identified connectomes to establishing general principles of circuit function and flexibility, identified modulatory neurons have enabled key insights into neural circuit modulation. For instance, while bath-applying neuromodulators continues to be an important approach to studying neural circuit modulation, this approach does not always mimic the neural circuit response to neuronal release of the same modulator. There is additional complexity in the actions of neuronally-released modulators due to: (1) the prevalence of co-transmitters, (2) local- and long-distance feedback regulating the timing of (co-)release, and (3) differential regulation of co-transmitter release. Identifying the physiological stimuli (e.g., identified sensory neurons) that activate modulatory projection neurons has demonstrated multiple “modulatory codes” for selecting particular circuit outputs. In some cases, population coding occurs, and in others circuit output is determined by the firing pattern and rate of the modulatory projection neurons. The ability to perform electrophysiological recordings and manipulations of small populations of identified neurons at multiple levels of rhythmic motor systems remains an important approach for determining the cellular and synaptic mechanisms underlying the rapid adaptability of rhythmic neural circuits.
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4
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Wang HY, Yu K, Yang Z, Zhang G, Guo SQ, Wang T, Liu DD, Jia RN, Zheng YT, Su YN, Lou Y, Weiss KR, Zhou HB, Liu F, Cropper EC, Yu Q, Jing J. A Single Central Pattern Generator for the Control of a Locomotor Rolling Wave in Mollusc Aplysia. RESEARCH (WASHINGTON, D.C.) 2023; 6:0060. [PMID: 36930762 PMCID: PMC10013812 DOI: 10.34133/research.0060] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/08/2022] [Accepted: 01/09/2023] [Indexed: 01/21/2023]
Abstract
Locomotion in mollusc Aplysia is implemented by a pedal rolling wave, a type of axial locomotion. Well-studied examples of axial locomotion (pedal waves in Drosophila larvae and body waves in leech, lamprey, and fish) are generated in a segmented nervous system via activation of multiple coupled central pattern generators (CPGs). Pedal waves in molluscs, however, are generated by a single pedal ganglion, and it is unknown whether there are single or multiple CPGs that generate rhythmic activity and phase shifts between different body parts. During locomotion in intact Aplysia, bursting activity in the parapedal commissural nerve (PPCN) was found to occur during tail contraction. A cluster of 20 to 30 P1 root neurons (P1Ns) on the ventral surface of the pedal ganglion, active during the pedal wave, were identified. Computational cluster analysis revealed that there are 2 phases to the motor program: phase I (centered around 168°) and phase II (centered around 357°). PPCN activity occurs during phase II. The majority of P1Ns are motoneurons. Coactive P1Ns tend to be electrically coupled. Two classes of pedal interneurons (PIs) were characterized. Class 1 (PI1 and PI2) is active during phase I. Their axons make a loop within the pedal ganglion and contribute to locomotor pattern generation. They are electrically coupled to P1Ns that fire during phase I. Class 2 (PI3) is active during phase II and innervates the contralateral pedal ganglion. PI3 may contribute to bilateral coordination. Overall, our findings support the idea that Aplysia pedal waves are generated by a single CPG.
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Affiliation(s)
- Hui-Ying Wang
- State Key Laboratory of Pharmaceutical Biotechnology, Institute for Brain Sciences, Chinese Academy of Medical Sciences Research Unit of Extracellular RNA, Jiangsu Engineering Research Center for MicroRNA Biology and Biotechnology, Advanced Institute for Life Sciences, Chemistry and Biomedicine Innovation Center, School of Life Sciences, Nanjing University, Nanjing, Jiangsu 210023, China
| | - Ke Yu
- State Key Laboratory of Pharmaceutical Biotechnology, Institute for Brain Sciences, Chinese Academy of Medical Sciences Research Unit of Extracellular RNA, Jiangsu Engineering Research Center for MicroRNA Biology and Biotechnology, Advanced Institute for Life Sciences, Chemistry and Biomedicine Innovation Center, School of Life Sciences, Nanjing University, Nanjing, Jiangsu 210023, China
| | - Zhe Yang
- State Key Laboratory of Pharmaceutical Biotechnology, Institute for Brain Sciences, Chinese Academy of Medical Sciences Research Unit of Extracellular RNA, Jiangsu Engineering Research Center for MicroRNA Biology and Biotechnology, Advanced Institute for Life Sciences, Chemistry and Biomedicine Innovation Center, School of Life Sciences, Nanjing University, Nanjing, Jiangsu 210023, China
| | - Guo Zhang
- State Key Laboratory of Pharmaceutical Biotechnology, Institute for Brain Sciences, Chinese Academy of Medical Sciences Research Unit of Extracellular RNA, Jiangsu Engineering Research Center for MicroRNA Biology and Biotechnology, Advanced Institute for Life Sciences, Chemistry and Biomedicine Innovation Center, School of Life Sciences, Nanjing University, Nanjing, Jiangsu 210023, China
| | - Shi-Qi Guo
- State Key Laboratory of Pharmaceutical Biotechnology, Institute for Brain Sciences, Chinese Academy of Medical Sciences Research Unit of Extracellular RNA, Jiangsu Engineering Research Center for MicroRNA Biology and Biotechnology, Advanced Institute for Life Sciences, Chemistry and Biomedicine Innovation Center, School of Life Sciences, Nanjing University, Nanjing, Jiangsu 210023, China
| | - Tao Wang
- National Laboratory of Solid State Microstructures, Department of Physics, Institute for Brain Sciences, and Collaborative Innovation Center of Advanced Microstructures, Nanjing University, Nanjing, Jiangsu 210093, China
| | - Dan-Dan Liu
- State Key Laboratory of Pharmaceutical Biotechnology, Institute for Brain Sciences, Chinese Academy of Medical Sciences Research Unit of Extracellular RNA, Jiangsu Engineering Research Center for MicroRNA Biology and Biotechnology, Advanced Institute for Life Sciences, Chemistry and Biomedicine Innovation Center, School of Life Sciences, Nanjing University, Nanjing, Jiangsu 210023, China
| | - Ruo-Nan Jia
- State Key Laboratory of Pharmaceutical Biotechnology, Institute for Brain Sciences, Chinese Academy of Medical Sciences Research Unit of Extracellular RNA, Jiangsu Engineering Research Center for MicroRNA Biology and Biotechnology, Advanced Institute for Life Sciences, Chemistry and Biomedicine Innovation Center, School of Life Sciences, Nanjing University, Nanjing, Jiangsu 210023, China
| | - Yu-Tong Zheng
- State Key Laboratory of Pharmaceutical Biotechnology, Institute for Brain Sciences, Chinese Academy of Medical Sciences Research Unit of Extracellular RNA, Jiangsu Engineering Research Center for MicroRNA Biology and Biotechnology, Advanced Institute for Life Sciences, Chemistry and Biomedicine Innovation Center, School of Life Sciences, Nanjing University, Nanjing, Jiangsu 210023, China
| | - Yan-Nan Su
- State Key Laboratory of Pharmaceutical Biotechnology, Institute for Brain Sciences, Chinese Academy of Medical Sciences Research Unit of Extracellular RNA, Jiangsu Engineering Research Center for MicroRNA Biology and Biotechnology, Advanced Institute for Life Sciences, Chemistry and Biomedicine Innovation Center, School of Life Sciences, Nanjing University, Nanjing, Jiangsu 210023, China
| | - Yi Lou
- State Key Laboratory of Pharmaceutical Biotechnology, Institute for Brain Sciences, Chinese Academy of Medical Sciences Research Unit of Extracellular RNA, Jiangsu Engineering Research Center for MicroRNA Biology and Biotechnology, Advanced Institute for Life Sciences, Chemistry and Biomedicine Innovation Center, School of Life Sciences, Nanjing University, Nanjing, Jiangsu 210023, China
| | - Klaudiusz R Weiss
- Department of Neuroscience and Friedman Brain Institute, Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, New York, NY 10029, USA
| | - Hai-Bo Zhou
- School of Electronic Science and Engineering, Nanjing University, Nanjing, Jiangsu 210023, China.,Peng Cheng Laboratory, Shenzhen 518000, China
| | - Feng Liu
- National Laboratory of Solid State Microstructures, Department of Physics, Institute for Brain Sciences, and Collaborative Innovation Center of Advanced Microstructures, Nanjing University, Nanjing, Jiangsu 210093, China
| | - Elizabeth C Cropper
- Department of Neuroscience and Friedman Brain Institute, Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, New York, NY 10029, USA
| | - Quan Yu
- Peng Cheng Laboratory, Shenzhen 518000, China
| | - Jian Jing
- State Key Laboratory of Pharmaceutical Biotechnology, Institute for Brain Sciences, Chinese Academy of Medical Sciences Research Unit of Extracellular RNA, Jiangsu Engineering Research Center for MicroRNA Biology and Biotechnology, Advanced Institute for Life Sciences, Chemistry and Biomedicine Innovation Center, School of Life Sciences, Nanjing University, Nanjing, Jiangsu 210023, China.,Department of Neuroscience and Friedman Brain Institute, Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, New York, NY 10029, USA.,Peng Cheng Laboratory, Shenzhen 518000, China
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5
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AI protein structure prediction-based modeling and mutagenesis of a protostome receptor and peptide ligands reveal key residues for their interaction. J Biol Chem 2022; 298:102440. [PMID: 36049520 PMCID: PMC9562341 DOI: 10.1016/j.jbc.2022.102440] [Citation(s) in RCA: 4] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/09/2022] [Revised: 08/24/2022] [Accepted: 08/25/2022] [Indexed: 11/24/2022] Open
Abstract
The protostome leucokinin (LK) signaling system, including LK peptides and their G protein-coupled receptors, has been characterized in several species. Despite progress in this area, molecular mechanisms governing LK peptide-receptor interactions remain to be elucidated. Previously, we identified a precursor protein for Aplysia leucokinin-like peptides (ALKs) that contains the greatest number of amidated peptides among LK precursors in all species identified so far. Here, we identified the first ALK receptor from Aplysia, ALKR. We used cell-based IP1 activation assays to demonstrate that the two ALK peptides with the most copies, ALK1 and ALK2, activated ALKR with high potencies. Other endogenous ALK-derived peptides bearing the FXXWX-amide motif also activated ALKR to various degrees. Our examination of cross-species activity of ALKs with the Anopheles LKR was consistent with a critical role for the FXXWX-amide motif in receptor activity. Furthermore, we showed, through alanine substitution of ALK1, the highly conserved phenylalanine (F), tryptophan (W), and C-terminal amidation were each essential for receptor activation. Finally, we used an AI-based protein structure prediction server (Robetta) and Autodock Vina to predict the ligand-bound conformation of ALKR. Our model predicted several interactions (i.e., hydrophobic interactions, hydrogen bonds, and amide-pi stacking) between ALK peptides and ALKR, and several of our substitution and mutagenesis experiments were consistent with the predicted model. In conclusion, our results provide important information defining the possible interactions between ALK peptides and their receptors. The workflow utilized here may be useful for studying other ligand-receptor interactions for a neuropeptide signaling system, particularly in protostomes.
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6
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Identification of an allatostatin C signaling system in mollusc Aplysia. Sci Rep 2022; 12:1213. [PMID: 35075137 PMCID: PMC8786951 DOI: 10.1038/s41598-022-05071-8] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/06/2021] [Accepted: 01/06/2022] [Indexed: 02/06/2023] Open
Abstract
Neuropeptides, as pervasive intercellular signaling molecules in the CNS, modulate a variety of behavioral systems in both protostomes and deuterostomes. Allatostatins are neuropeptides in arthropods that inhibit the biosynthesis of juvenile hormones. Based on amino acid sequences, they are divided into three different types in arthropods: allatostatin A, allatostatin B, allatostatin C. Allatostatin C (AstC) was first isolated from Manduca sexta, and it has an important conserved feature of a disulfide bridge formed by two cysteine residues. Moreover, AstC appears to be the ortholog of mammalian somatostatin, and it has functions in common with somatostatin, such as modulating feeding behaviors. The AstC signaling system has been widely studied in arthropods, but minimally studied in molluscs. In this study, we seek to identify the AstC signaling system in the marine mollusc Aplysia californica. We cloned the AstC precursor from the cDNA of Aplysia. We predicted a 15-amino acid peptide with a disulfide bridge, i.e., AstC, using NeuroPred. We then cloned two putative allatostatin C-like receptors and through NCBI Conserved Domain Search we found that they belonged to the G protein-coupled receptor (GPCR) family. In addition, using an inositol monophosphate 1 (IP1) accumulation assay, we showed that Aplysia AstC could activate one of the putative receptors, i.e., the AstC-R, at the lowest EC50, and AstC without the disulfide bridge (AstC') activated AstC-R with the highest EC50. Moreover, four molluscan AstCs with variations of sequences from Aplysia AstC but with the disulfide bridge activated AstC-R at intermediate EC50. In summary, our successful identification of the Aplysia AstC precursor and its receptor (AstC-R) represents the first example in molluscs, and provides an important basis for further studies of the AstC signaling system in Aplysia and other molluscs.
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7
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Evans CG, Barry MA, Jing J, Perkins MH, Weiss KR, Cropper EC. The Complement of Projection Neurons Activated Determines the Type of Feeding Motor Program in Aplysia. Front Neural Circuits 2021; 15:685222. [PMID: 34177471 PMCID: PMC8222659 DOI: 10.3389/fncir.2021.685222] [Citation(s) in RCA: 3] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/24/2021] [Accepted: 05/12/2021] [Indexed: 11/17/2022] Open
Abstract
Multiple projection neurons are often activated to initiate behavior. A question that then arises is, what is the unique functional role of each neuron activated? We address this issue in the feeding system of Aplysia. Previous experiments identified a projection neuron [cerebral buccal interneuron 2 (CBI-2)] that can trigger ingestive motor programs but only after it is repeatedly stimulated, i.e., initial programs are poorly defined. As CBI-2 stimulation continues, programs become progressively more ingestive (repetition priming occurs). This priming results, at least in part, from persistent actions of peptide cotransmitters released from CBI-2. We now show that in some preparations repetition priming does not occur. There is no clear seasonal effect; priming and non-priming preparations are encountered throughout the year. CBI-2 is electrically coupled to a second projection neuron, cerebral buccal interneuron 3 (CBI-3). In preparations in which priming does not occur, we show that ingestive activity is generated when CBI-2 and CBI-3 are coactivated. Programs are immediately ingestive, i.e., priming is not necessary, and a persistent state is not induced. Our data suggest that dynamic changes in the configuration of activity can vary and be determined by the complement of projection neurons that trigger activity.
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Affiliation(s)
- Colin G. Evans
- Department of Neuroscience and Friedman Brain Institute, Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, New York, NY, United States
| | - Michael A. Barry
- Department of Neuroscience and Friedman Brain Institute, Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, New York, NY, United States
| | - Jian Jing
- Department of Neuroscience and Friedman Brain Institute, Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, New York, NY, United States
- State Key Laboratory of Pharmaceutical Biotechnology, Institute for Brain Sciences, Collaborative Innovation Center of Chemistry for Life Sciences, Jiangsu Engineering Research Center for MicroRNA Biology and Biotechnology, Advanced Institute for Life Sciences, School of Life Sciences, Nanjing University, Nanjing, China
| | - Matthew H. Perkins
- Department of Neuroscience and Friedman Brain Institute, Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, New York, NY, United States
| | - Klaudiusz R. Weiss
- Department of Neuroscience and Friedman Brain Institute, Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, New York, NY, United States
| | - Elizabeth C. Cropper
- Department of Neuroscience and Friedman Brain Institute, Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, New York, NY, United States
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8
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Zhang G, Yu K, Wang T, Chen TT, Yuan WD, Yang F, Le ZW, Guo SQ, Xue YY, Chen SA, Yang Z, Liu F, Cropper EC, Weiss KR, Jing J. Synaptic mechanisms for motor variability in a feedforward network. SCIENCE ADVANCES 2020; 6:6/25/eaba4856. [PMID: 32937495 PMCID: PMC7458462 DOI: 10.1126/sciadv.aba4856] [Citation(s) in RCA: 8] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/11/2019] [Accepted: 05/07/2020] [Indexed: 05/26/2023]
Abstract
Behavioral variability often arises from variable activity in the behavior-generating neural network. The synaptic mechanisms underlying this variability are poorly understood. We show that synaptic noise, in conjunction with weak feedforward excitation, generates variable motor output in the Aplysia feeding system. A command-like neuron (CBI-10) triggers rhythmic motor programs more variable than programs triggered by CBI-2. CBI-10 weakly excites a pivotal pattern-generating interneuron (B34) strongly activated by CBI-2. The activation properties of B34 substantially account for the degree of program variability. CBI-10- and CBI-2-induced EPSPs in B34 vary in amplitude across trials, suggesting that there is synaptic noise. Computational studies show that synaptic noise is required for program variability. Further, at network state transition points when synaptic conductance is low, maximum program variability is promoted by moderate noise levels. Thus, synaptic strength and noise act together in a nonlinear manner to determine the degree of variability within a feedforward network.
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Affiliation(s)
- Guo Zhang
- State Key Laboratory of Pharmaceutical Biotechnology, Institute for Brain Sciences, Collaborative Innovation Center of Chemistry for Life Sciences, Jiangsu Engineering Research Center for MicroRNA Biology and Biotechnology, Advanced Institute for Life Sciences, School of Life Sciences, Nanjing University, Nanjing, Jiangsu 210023, China
| | - Ke Yu
- State Key Laboratory of Pharmaceutical Biotechnology, Institute for Brain Sciences, Collaborative Innovation Center of Chemistry for Life Sciences, Jiangsu Engineering Research Center for MicroRNA Biology and Biotechnology, Advanced Institute for Life Sciences, School of Life Sciences, Nanjing University, Nanjing, Jiangsu 210023, China
| | - Tao Wang
- National Laboratory of Solid State Microstructures, Department of Physics, Institute for Brain Sciences, and Collaborative Innovation Center of Advanced Microstructures, Nanjing University, Nanjing, Jiangsu 210093, China
| | - Ting-Ting Chen
- State Key Laboratory of Pharmaceutical Biotechnology, Institute for Brain Sciences, Collaborative Innovation Center of Chemistry for Life Sciences, Jiangsu Engineering Research Center for MicroRNA Biology and Biotechnology, Advanced Institute for Life Sciences, School of Life Sciences, Nanjing University, Nanjing, Jiangsu 210023, China
| | - Wang-Ding Yuan
- State Key Laboratory of Pharmaceutical Biotechnology, Institute for Brain Sciences, Collaborative Innovation Center of Chemistry for Life Sciences, Jiangsu Engineering Research Center for MicroRNA Biology and Biotechnology, Advanced Institute for Life Sciences, School of Life Sciences, Nanjing University, Nanjing, Jiangsu 210023, China
| | - Fan Yang
- National Laboratory of Solid State Microstructures, Department of Physics, Institute for Brain Sciences, and Collaborative Innovation Center of Advanced Microstructures, Nanjing University, Nanjing, Jiangsu 210093, China
| | - Zi-Wei Le
- State Key Laboratory of Pharmaceutical Biotechnology, Institute for Brain Sciences, Collaborative Innovation Center of Chemistry for Life Sciences, Jiangsu Engineering Research Center for MicroRNA Biology and Biotechnology, Advanced Institute for Life Sciences, School of Life Sciences, Nanjing University, Nanjing, Jiangsu 210023, China
| | - Shi-Qi Guo
- State Key Laboratory of Pharmaceutical Biotechnology, Institute for Brain Sciences, Collaborative Innovation Center of Chemistry for Life Sciences, Jiangsu Engineering Research Center for MicroRNA Biology and Biotechnology, Advanced Institute for Life Sciences, School of Life Sciences, Nanjing University, Nanjing, Jiangsu 210023, China
| | - Ying-Yu Xue
- State Key Laboratory of Pharmaceutical Biotechnology, Institute for Brain Sciences, Collaborative Innovation Center of Chemistry for Life Sciences, Jiangsu Engineering Research Center for MicroRNA Biology and Biotechnology, Advanced Institute for Life Sciences, School of Life Sciences, Nanjing University, Nanjing, Jiangsu 210023, China
| | - Song-An Chen
- State Key Laboratory of Pharmaceutical Biotechnology, Institute for Brain Sciences, Collaborative Innovation Center of Chemistry for Life Sciences, Jiangsu Engineering Research Center for MicroRNA Biology and Biotechnology, Advanced Institute for Life Sciences, School of Life Sciences, Nanjing University, Nanjing, Jiangsu 210023, China
| | - Zhe Yang
- State Key Laboratory of Pharmaceutical Biotechnology, Institute for Brain Sciences, Collaborative Innovation Center of Chemistry for Life Sciences, Jiangsu Engineering Research Center for MicroRNA Biology and Biotechnology, Advanced Institute for Life Sciences, School of Life Sciences, Nanjing University, Nanjing, Jiangsu 210023, China
| | - Feng Liu
- National Laboratory of Solid State Microstructures, Department of Physics, Institute for Brain Sciences, and Collaborative Innovation Center of Advanced Microstructures, Nanjing University, Nanjing, Jiangsu 210093, China.
| | - Elizabeth C Cropper
- Department of Neuroscience and Friedman Brain Institute, Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, New York, NY 10029, USA
| | - Klaudiusz R Weiss
- Department of Neuroscience and Friedman Brain Institute, Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, New York, NY 10029, USA
| | - Jian Jing
- State Key Laboratory of Pharmaceutical Biotechnology, Institute for Brain Sciences, Collaborative Innovation Center of Chemistry for Life Sciences, Jiangsu Engineering Research Center for MicroRNA Biology and Biotechnology, Advanced Institute for Life Sciences, School of Life Sciences, Nanjing University, Nanjing, Jiangsu 210023, China.
- Department of Neuroscience and Friedman Brain Institute, Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, New York, NY 10029, USA
- Peng Cheng Laboratory, Shenzhen 518000, China
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9
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McManus JM, Chiel HJ, Susswein AJ. Successful and unsuccessful attempts to swallow in a reduced Aplysia preparation regulate feeding responses and produce memory at different neural sites. ACTA ACUST UNITED AC 2019; 26:151-165. [PMID: 30992384 PMCID: PMC6478246 DOI: 10.1101/lm.048983.118] [Citation(s) in RCA: 5] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/28/2018] [Accepted: 03/12/2019] [Indexed: 01/26/2023]
Abstract
Sensory feedback shapes ongoing behavior and may produce learning and memory. Motor responses to edible or inedible food in a reduced Aplysia preparation were examined to test how sensory feedback affects behavior and memory. Feeding patterns were initiated by applying a cholinomimetic onto the cerebral ganglion. Feedback from buccal muscles increased the response variability and response rate. Repeated application of the cholinomimetic caused decreased responses, expressed in part by lengthening protractions. Swallowing strips of "edible" food, which in intact animals induces learning that enhances ingestion, increased the response rate, and shortened the protraction length, reflecting more swallowing. Testing memory by repeating the procedure prevented the decrease in response rate observed with the cholinomimetic alone, and shortened protractions. Training with "inedible" food that in intact animals produces learning expressed by decreased responses caused lengthened protractions. Testing memory by repeating the procedure did not cause decreased responses or lengthened protractions. After training and testing with edible or inedible food, all preparations were exposed to the cholinomimetic alone. Preparations previously trained with edible food displayed memory expressed as decreased protraction length. Preparations previously trained with inedible food showed decreases in many response parameters. Memory for inedible food may arise in part via a postsynaptic decrease in response to acetylcholine released by afferents sensing food. The lack of change in response number, and in the time that responses are maintained during the two training sessions preceding application of the cholinomimetic alone suggests that memory expression may differ from behavioral changes during training.
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Affiliation(s)
- Jeffrey M McManus
- Departments of Biology, Case Western Reserve University, Cleveland, Ohio 44106-7080, USA
| | - Hillel J Chiel
- Departments of Biology, Case Western Reserve University, Cleveland, Ohio 44106-7080, USA.,Department of Neurosciences, Case Western Reserve University, Cleveland, Ohio 44106-7080, USA.,Biomedical Engineering, Case Western Reserve University, Cleveland, Ohio 44106-7080, USA
| | - Abraham J Susswein
- The Mina and Everard Goodman Faculty of Life Sciences, Bar Ilan University, Ramat Gan, 52900, Israel.,The Leslie and Susan Gonda (Goldschmied) Multidisciplinary Brain Research Center, Bar Ilan University, Ramat Gan, 52900, Israel
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10
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Abstract
The neurotransmitter gamma-aminobutyric acid (GABA) is widely distributed in the mammalian central nervous system, where it acts as a major mediator of synaptic inhibition. GABA also serves as a neurotransmitter in a range of invertebrate phyla, including arthropods, echinoderms, annelids, nematodes, and platyhelminthes. This article reviews evidence supporting the neurotransmitter role of GABA in gastropod molluscs, with an emphasis on its presence in identified neurons and well-characterized neural circuits. The collective findings indicate that GABAergic signaling participates in the selection and specification of motor programs, as well as the bilateral coordination of motor circuits. While relatively few in number, GABAergic neurons can influence neural circuits via inhibitory, excitatory, and modulatory synaptic actions. GABA's colocalization with peptidergic and classical neurotransmitters can broaden its integrative capacity. The functional properties of GABAergic neurons in simpler gastropod systems may provide insight into the role of this neurotransmitter phenotype in more complex brains.
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Key Words
- BCI, buccal-cerebral interneuron
- CBC, cerebral-buccal connective
- CBI, cerebral-buccal interneuron
- CNS, central nervous system
- CPG, central pattern generator
- Cr-Aint, cerebral A interneuron
- DA, dopamine
- EPSP, excitatory postsynaptic potential
- FCAP, feeding circuit activating peptide
- GABA, gamma-aminobutyric acid
- GABAli, GABA-like immunoreactivity
- IPSP, inhibitory postsynaptic potential
- PKC, protein kinase C
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Affiliation(s)
- MARK W. MILLER
- Institute of Neurobiology and Department of Anatomy and Neurobiology, University of Puerto Rico Medical Sciences Campus, San Juan, Puerto Rico 00901
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11
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Cropper EC, Jing J, Vilim FS, Weiss KR. Peptide Cotransmitters as Dynamic, Intrinsic Modulators of Network Activity. Front Neural Circuits 2018; 12:78. [PMID: 30333732 PMCID: PMC6176060 DOI: 10.3389/fncir.2018.00078] [Citation(s) in RCA: 13] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.2] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/01/2018] [Accepted: 09/10/2018] [Indexed: 02/06/2023] Open
Abstract
Neurons can contain both neuropeptides and "classic" small molecule transmitters. Much progress has been made in studies designed to determine the functional significance of this arrangement in experiments conducted in invertebrates and in the vertebrate autonomic nervous system. In this review article, we describe some of this research. In particular, we review early studies that related peptide release to physiological firing patterns of neurons. Additionally, we discuss more recent experiments informed by this early work that have sought to determine the functional significance of peptide cotransmission in the situation where peptides are released from neurons that are part of (i.e., are intrinsic to) a behavior generating circuit in the CNS. In this situation, peptide release will presumably be tightly coupled to the manner in which a network is activated. For example, data obtained in early studies suggest that peptide release will be potentiated when behavior is executed rapidly and intervals between periods of neural activity are relatively short. Further, early studies demonstrated that when neural activity is maintained, there are progressive changes (e.g., increases) in the amount of peptide that is released (even in the absence of a change in neural activity). This suggests that intrinsic peptidergic modulators in the CNS are likely to exert effects that are manifested dynamically in an activity-dependent manner. This type of modulation is likely to differ markedly from the modulation that occurs when a peptide hormone is present at a relatively fixed concentration in the blood.
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Affiliation(s)
- Elizabeth C Cropper
- Department of Neuroscience and Friedman Brain Institute, Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, New York, NY, United States
| | - Jian Jing
- Department of Neuroscience and Friedman Brain Institute, Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, New York, NY, United States.,State Key Laboratory of Pharmaceutical Biotechnology, Advanced Institute for Life Sciences, School of Life Sciences, Nanjing University, Nanjing, China
| | - Ferdinand S Vilim
- Department of Neuroscience and Friedman Brain Institute, Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, New York, NY, United States
| | - Klaudiusz R Weiss
- Department of Neuroscience and Friedman Brain Institute, Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, New York, NY, United States
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12
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Zhang G, Yuan WD, Vilim FS, Romanova EV, Yu K, Yin SY, Le ZW, Xue YY, Chen TT, Chen GK, Chen SA, Cropper EC, Sweedler JV, Weiss KR, Jing J. Newly Identified Aplysia SPTR-Gene Family-Derived Peptides: Localization and Function. ACS Chem Neurosci 2018. [PMID: 29543430 DOI: 10.1021/acschemneuro.7b00513] [Citation(s) in RCA: 10] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 02/08/2023] Open
Abstract
When individual neurons in a circuit contain multiple neuropeptides, these peptides can target different sets of follower neurons. This endows the circuit with a certain degree of flexibility. Here we identified a novel family of peptides, the Aplysia SPTR-Gene Family-Derived peptides (apSPTR-GF-DPs). We demonstrated apSPTR-GF-DPs, particularly apSPTR-GF-DP2, are expressed in the Aplysia CNS using immunohistochemistry and MALDI-TOF MS. Furthermore, apSPTR-GF-DP2 is present in single projection neurons, e.g., in the cerebral-buccal interneuron-12 (CBI-12). Previous studies have demonstrated that CBI-12 contains two other peptides, FCAP/CP2. In addition, CBI-12 and CP2 promote shortening of the protraction phase of motor programs. Here, we demonstrate that FCAP shortens protraction. Moreover, we show that apSPTR-GF-DP2 also shortens protraction. Surprisingly, apSPTR-GF-DP2 does not increase the excitability of retraction interneuron B64. B64 terminates protraction and is modulated by FCAP/CP2 and CBI-12. Instead, we show that apSPTR-GF-DP2 and CBI-12 increase B20 excitability and B20 activity can shorten protraction. Taken together, these data indicate that different CBI-12 peptides target different sets of pattern-generating interneurons to exert similar modulatory actions. These findings provide the first definitive evidence for SPTR-GF's role in modulation of feeding, and a form of molecular degeneracy by multiple peptide cotransmitters in single identified neurons.
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Affiliation(s)
- Guo Zhang
- State Key Laboratory of Pharmaceutical Biotechnology, Collaborative Innovation Center of Chemistry for Life Sciences, Jiangsu Engineering Research Center for MicroRNA Biology and Biotechnology, Advanced Institute for Life Sciences, School of Life Sciences, Nanjing University, Nanjing, Jiangsu 210046, China
| | - Wang-ding Yuan
- State Key Laboratory of Pharmaceutical Biotechnology, Collaborative Innovation Center of Chemistry for Life Sciences, Jiangsu Engineering Research Center for MicroRNA Biology and Biotechnology, Advanced Institute for Life Sciences, School of Life Sciences, Nanjing University, Nanjing, Jiangsu 210046, China
| | - Ferdinand S. Vilim
- Department of Neuroscience and Friedman Brain Institute, Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, New York, New York 10029, United States
| | - Elena V. Romanova
- Beckman Institute for Advanced Science and Technology and Department of Chemistry, University of Illinois at Urbana−Champaign, Urbana, Illinois 61801, United States
| | - Ke Yu
- State Key Laboratory of Pharmaceutical Biotechnology, Collaborative Innovation Center of Chemistry for Life Sciences, Jiangsu Engineering Research Center for MicroRNA Biology and Biotechnology, Advanced Institute for Life Sciences, School of Life Sciences, Nanjing University, Nanjing, Jiangsu 210046, China
| | - Si-yuan Yin
- State Key Laboratory of Pharmaceutical Biotechnology, Collaborative Innovation Center of Chemistry for Life Sciences, Jiangsu Engineering Research Center for MicroRNA Biology and Biotechnology, Advanced Institute for Life Sciences, School of Life Sciences, Nanjing University, Nanjing, Jiangsu 210046, China
| | - Zi-wei Le
- State Key Laboratory of Pharmaceutical Biotechnology, Collaborative Innovation Center of Chemistry for Life Sciences, Jiangsu Engineering Research Center for MicroRNA Biology and Biotechnology, Advanced Institute for Life Sciences, School of Life Sciences, Nanjing University, Nanjing, Jiangsu 210046, China
| | - Ying-yu Xue
- State Key Laboratory of Pharmaceutical Biotechnology, Collaborative Innovation Center of Chemistry for Life Sciences, Jiangsu Engineering Research Center for MicroRNA Biology and Biotechnology, Advanced Institute for Life Sciences, School of Life Sciences, Nanjing University, Nanjing, Jiangsu 210046, China
| | - Ting-ting Chen
- State Key Laboratory of Pharmaceutical Biotechnology, Collaborative Innovation Center of Chemistry for Life Sciences, Jiangsu Engineering Research Center for MicroRNA Biology and Biotechnology, Advanced Institute for Life Sciences, School of Life Sciences, Nanjing University, Nanjing, Jiangsu 210046, China
| | - Guo-kai Chen
- State Key Laboratory of Pharmaceutical Biotechnology, Collaborative Innovation Center of Chemistry for Life Sciences, Jiangsu Engineering Research Center for MicroRNA Biology and Biotechnology, Advanced Institute for Life Sciences, School of Life Sciences, Nanjing University, Nanjing, Jiangsu 210046, China
| | - Song-an Chen
- State Key Laboratory of Pharmaceutical Biotechnology, Collaborative Innovation Center of Chemistry for Life Sciences, Jiangsu Engineering Research Center for MicroRNA Biology and Biotechnology, Advanced Institute for Life Sciences, School of Life Sciences, Nanjing University, Nanjing, Jiangsu 210046, China
| | - Elizabeth C. Cropper
- Department of Neuroscience and Friedman Brain Institute, Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, New York, New York 10029, United States
| | - Jonathan V. Sweedler
- Beckman Institute for Advanced Science and Technology and Department of Chemistry, University of Illinois at Urbana−Champaign, Urbana, Illinois 61801, United States
| | - Klaudiusz R. Weiss
- Department of Neuroscience and Friedman Brain Institute, Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, New York, New York 10029, United States
| | - Jian Jing
- State Key Laboratory of Pharmaceutical Biotechnology, Collaborative Innovation Center of Chemistry for Life Sciences, Jiangsu Engineering Research Center for MicroRNA Biology and Biotechnology, Advanced Institute for Life Sciences, School of Life Sciences, Nanjing University, Nanjing, Jiangsu 210046, China
- Department of Neuroscience and Friedman Brain Institute, Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, New York, New York 10029, United States
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13
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Cropper EC, Jing J, Vilim FS, Barry MA, Weiss KR. Multifaceted Expression of Peptidergic Modulation in the Feeding System of Aplysia. ACS Chem Neurosci 2018; 9:1917-1927. [PMID: 29309115 DOI: 10.1021/acschemneuro.7b00447] [Citation(s) in RCA: 13] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.2] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 02/06/2023] Open
Abstract
Neuropeptides are present in species throughout the animal kingdom and generally exert actions that are distinct from those of small molecule transmitters. It has, therefore, been of interest to define the unique behavioral role of this class of substances. Progress in this regard has been made in experimentally advantageous invertebrate preparations. We focus on one such system, the feeding circuit in the mollusc Aplysia. We review research conducted over several decades that played an important role in establishing that peptide cotransmitters are released under behaviorally relevant conditions. We describe how this was accomplished. For example, we describe techniques developed to purify novel peptides, localize them to identified neurons, and detect endogenous peptide release. We also describe physiological experiments that demonstrated that peptides are bioactive under behaviorally relevant conditions. The feeding system is like others in that peptides exert effects that are both convergent and divergent. Work in the feeding system clearly illustrates how this creates potential for behavioral flexibility. Finally, we discuss experiments that determined physiological consequences of one of the hallmark features of peptidergic modulation, its persistence. Research in the feeding system demonstrated that this persistence can change network state and play an important role in determining network output.
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Affiliation(s)
- Elizabeth C. Cropper
- Department of Neuroscience and Friedman Brain Institute, Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, One Gustave L. Levy Place, New York, New York 10029, United States
| | - Jian Jing
- Department of Neuroscience and Friedman Brain Institute, Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, One Gustave L. Levy Place, New York, New York 10029, United States
- State Key Laboratory of Pharmaceutical Biotechnology, Advanced Institute for Life Sciences, School of Life Sciences, Nanjing University, Nanjing, Jiangsu 210093, China
| | - Ferdinand S. Vilim
- Department of Neuroscience and Friedman Brain Institute, Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, One Gustave L. Levy Place, New York, New York 10029, United States
| | - Michael A. Barry
- Department of Neuroscience and Friedman Brain Institute, Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, One Gustave L. Levy Place, New York, New York 10029, United States
| | - Klaudiusz R. Weiss
- Department of Neuroscience and Friedman Brain Institute, Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, One Gustave L. Levy Place, New York, New York 10029, United States
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14
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Zhang G, Vilim FS, Liu DD, Romanova EV, Yu K, Yuan WD, Xiao H, Hummon AB, Chen TT, Alexeeva V, Yin SY, Chen SA, Cropper EC, Sweedler JV, Weiss KR, Jing J. Discovery of leucokinin-like neuropeptides that modulate a specific parameter of feeding motor programs in the molluscan model, Aplysia. J Biol Chem 2017; 292:18775-18789. [PMID: 28924050 DOI: 10.1074/jbc.m117.795450] [Citation(s) in RCA: 17] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.4] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/17/2017] [Revised: 08/31/2017] [Indexed: 12/12/2022] Open
Abstract
A better understanding of neuromodulation in a behavioral system requires identification of active modulatory transmitters. Here, we used identifiable neurons in a neurobiological model system, the mollusc Aplysia, to study neuropeptides, a diverse class of neuromodulators. We took advantage of two types of feeding neurons, B48 and B1/B2, in the Aplysia buccal ganglion that might contain different neuropeptides. We performed a representational difference analysis (RDA) by subtraction of mRNAs in B48 versus mRNAs in B1/B2. The RDA identified an unusually long (2025 amino acids) peptide precursor encoding Aplysia leucokinin-like peptides (ALKs; e.g. ALK-1 and ALK-2). Northern blot analysis revealed that, compared with other ganglia (e.g. the pedal-pleural ganglion), ALK mRNA is predominantly present in the buccal ganglion, which controls feeding behavior. We then used in situ hybridization and immunohistochemistry to localize ALKs to specific neurons, including B48. MALDI-TOF MS on single buccal neurons revealed expression of 40 ALK precursor-derived peptides. Among these, ALK-1 and ALK-2 are active in the feeding network; they shortened the radula protraction phase of feeding motor programs triggered by a command-like neuron. We also found that this effect may be mediated by the ALK-stimulated enhancement of activity of an interneuron, which has previously been shown to terminate protraction. We conclude that our multipronged approach is effective for determining the structure and defining the diverse functions of leucokinin-like peptides. Notably, the ALK precursor is the first verified nonarthropod precursor for leucokinin-like peptides with a novel, marked modulatory effect on a specific parameter (protraction duration) of feeding motor programs.
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Affiliation(s)
- Guo Zhang
- From the State Key Laboratory of Pharmaceutical Biotechnology, Collaborative Innovation Center of Chemistry for Life Sciences, Jiangsu Engineering Research Center for MicroRNA Biology and Biotechnology, Advanced Institute for Life Sciences, School of Life Sciences, Nanjing University, Nanjing, Jiangsu 210023, China
| | - Ferdinand S Vilim
- the Department of Neuroscience and Friedman Brain Institute, Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, New York, New York 10029, and
| | - Dan-Dan Liu
- From the State Key Laboratory of Pharmaceutical Biotechnology, Collaborative Innovation Center of Chemistry for Life Sciences, Jiangsu Engineering Research Center for MicroRNA Biology and Biotechnology, Advanced Institute for Life Sciences, School of Life Sciences, Nanjing University, Nanjing, Jiangsu 210023, China
| | - Elena V Romanova
- the Beckman Institute for Advanced Science and Technology and Department of Chemistry, University of Illinois, Urbana, Illinois 61801
| | - Ke Yu
- From the State Key Laboratory of Pharmaceutical Biotechnology, Collaborative Innovation Center of Chemistry for Life Sciences, Jiangsu Engineering Research Center for MicroRNA Biology and Biotechnology, Advanced Institute for Life Sciences, School of Life Sciences, Nanjing University, Nanjing, Jiangsu 210023, China
| | - Wang-Ding Yuan
- From the State Key Laboratory of Pharmaceutical Biotechnology, Collaborative Innovation Center of Chemistry for Life Sciences, Jiangsu Engineering Research Center for MicroRNA Biology and Biotechnology, Advanced Institute for Life Sciences, School of Life Sciences, Nanjing University, Nanjing, Jiangsu 210023, China
| | - Hui Xiao
- From the State Key Laboratory of Pharmaceutical Biotechnology, Collaborative Innovation Center of Chemistry for Life Sciences, Jiangsu Engineering Research Center for MicroRNA Biology and Biotechnology, Advanced Institute for Life Sciences, School of Life Sciences, Nanjing University, Nanjing, Jiangsu 210023, China
| | - Amanda B Hummon
- the Beckman Institute for Advanced Science and Technology and Department of Chemistry, University of Illinois, Urbana, Illinois 61801
| | - Ting-Ting Chen
- From the State Key Laboratory of Pharmaceutical Biotechnology, Collaborative Innovation Center of Chemistry for Life Sciences, Jiangsu Engineering Research Center for MicroRNA Biology and Biotechnology, Advanced Institute for Life Sciences, School of Life Sciences, Nanjing University, Nanjing, Jiangsu 210023, China
| | - Vera Alexeeva
- the Department of Neuroscience and Friedman Brain Institute, Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, New York, New York 10029, and
| | - Si-Yuan Yin
- From the State Key Laboratory of Pharmaceutical Biotechnology, Collaborative Innovation Center of Chemistry for Life Sciences, Jiangsu Engineering Research Center for MicroRNA Biology and Biotechnology, Advanced Institute for Life Sciences, School of Life Sciences, Nanjing University, Nanjing, Jiangsu 210023, China
| | - Song-An Chen
- From the State Key Laboratory of Pharmaceutical Biotechnology, Collaborative Innovation Center of Chemistry for Life Sciences, Jiangsu Engineering Research Center for MicroRNA Biology and Biotechnology, Advanced Institute for Life Sciences, School of Life Sciences, Nanjing University, Nanjing, Jiangsu 210023, China
| | - Elizabeth C Cropper
- the Department of Neuroscience and Friedman Brain Institute, Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, New York, New York 10029, and
| | - Jonathan V Sweedler
- the Beckman Institute for Advanced Science and Technology and Department of Chemistry, University of Illinois, Urbana, Illinois 61801
| | - Klaudiusz R Weiss
- the Department of Neuroscience and Friedman Brain Institute, Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, New York, New York 10029, and
| | - Jian Jing
- From the State Key Laboratory of Pharmaceutical Biotechnology, Collaborative Innovation Center of Chemistry for Life Sciences, Jiangsu Engineering Research Center for MicroRNA Biology and Biotechnology, Advanced Institute for Life Sciences, School of Life Sciences, Nanjing University, Nanjing, Jiangsu 210023, China, .,the Department of Neuroscience and Friedman Brain Institute, Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, New York, New York 10029, and
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15
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Livnat I, Tai HC, Jansson ET, Bai L, Romanova EV, Chen TT, Yu K, Chen SA, Zhang Y, Wang ZY, Liu DD, Weiss KR, Jing J, Sweedler JV. A d-Amino Acid-Containing Neuropeptide Discovery Funnel. Anal Chem 2016; 88:11868-11876. [PMID: 27788334 PMCID: PMC5144109 DOI: 10.1021/acs.analchem.6b03658] [Citation(s) in RCA: 64] [Impact Index Per Article: 8.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 01/18/2023]
Abstract
![]()
A receptor binding
class of d-amino acid-containing peptides
(DAACPs) is formed in animals from an enzymatically mediated post-translational
modification of ribosomally translated all-l-amino acid peptides.
Although this modification can be required for biological actions,
detecting it is challenging because DAACPs have the same mass as their
all-l-amino acid counterparts. We developed a suite of mass
spectrometry (MS) protocols for the nontargeted discovery of DAACPs
and validated their effectiveness using neurons from Aplysia
californica. The approach involves the following three steps,
with each confirming and refining the hits found in the prior step.
The first step is screening for peptides resistant to digestion by
aminopeptidase M. The second verifies the presence of a chiral amino
acid via acid hydrolysis in deuterium chloride, labeling with Marfey’s
reagent, and liquid chromatography–mass spectrometry to determine
the chirality of each amino acid. The third involves synthesizing
the putative DAACPs and comparing them to the endogenous standards.
Advantages of the method, the d-amino acid-containing neuropeptide
discovery funnel, are that it is capable of detecting the d-form of any common chiral amino acid, and the first two steps do
not require peptide standards. Using these protocols, we report that
two peptides from the Aplysia achatin-like neuropeptide
precursor exist as GdYFD and SdYADSKDEESNAALSDFA.
Interestingly, GdYFD was bioactive in the Aplysia feeding and locomotor circuits but SdYADSKDEESNAALSDFA
was not. The discovery funnel provides an effective means to characterize
DAACPs in the nervous systems of animals in a nontargeted manner.
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Affiliation(s)
| | | | | | | | | | - Ting-Ting Chen
- State Key Laboratory of Pharmaceutical Biotechnology, Collaborative Innovation Center of Chemistry for Life Sciences, Jiangsu Engineering Research Center for MicroRNA Biology and Biotechnology, Advanced Institute for Life Sciences, School of Life Sciences, Nanjing University , Nanjing, Jiangsu 210046, China
| | - Ke Yu
- State Key Laboratory of Pharmaceutical Biotechnology, Collaborative Innovation Center of Chemistry for Life Sciences, Jiangsu Engineering Research Center for MicroRNA Biology and Biotechnology, Advanced Institute for Life Sciences, School of Life Sciences, Nanjing University , Nanjing, Jiangsu 210046, China
| | - Song-An Chen
- State Key Laboratory of Pharmaceutical Biotechnology, Collaborative Innovation Center of Chemistry for Life Sciences, Jiangsu Engineering Research Center for MicroRNA Biology and Biotechnology, Advanced Institute for Life Sciences, School of Life Sciences, Nanjing University , Nanjing, Jiangsu 210046, China
| | - Yan Zhang
- State Key Laboratory of Pharmaceutical Biotechnology, Collaborative Innovation Center of Chemistry for Life Sciences, Jiangsu Engineering Research Center for MicroRNA Biology and Biotechnology, Advanced Institute for Life Sciences, School of Life Sciences, Nanjing University , Nanjing, Jiangsu 210046, China
| | - Zheng-Yang Wang
- State Key Laboratory of Pharmaceutical Biotechnology, Collaborative Innovation Center of Chemistry for Life Sciences, Jiangsu Engineering Research Center for MicroRNA Biology and Biotechnology, Advanced Institute for Life Sciences, School of Life Sciences, Nanjing University , Nanjing, Jiangsu 210046, China
| | - Dan-Dan Liu
- State Key Laboratory of Pharmaceutical Biotechnology, Collaborative Innovation Center of Chemistry for Life Sciences, Jiangsu Engineering Research Center for MicroRNA Biology and Biotechnology, Advanced Institute for Life Sciences, School of Life Sciences, Nanjing University , Nanjing, Jiangsu 210046, China
| | - Klaudiusz R Weiss
- Department of Neuroscience and Friedman Brain Institute, Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai , New York, New York 10029, United States
| | - Jian Jing
- State Key Laboratory of Pharmaceutical Biotechnology, Collaborative Innovation Center of Chemistry for Life Sciences, Jiangsu Engineering Research Center for MicroRNA Biology and Biotechnology, Advanced Institute for Life Sciences, School of Life Sciences, Nanjing University , Nanjing, Jiangsu 210046, China.,Department of Neuroscience and Friedman Brain Institute, Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai , New York, New York 10029, United States
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16
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Yang CY, Yu K, Wang Y, Chen SA, Liu DD, Wang ZY, Su YN, Yang SZ, Chen TT, Livnat I, Vilim FS, Cropper EC, Weiss KR, Sweedler JV, Jing J. Aplysia Locomotion: Network and Behavioral Actions of GdFFD, a D-Amino Acid-Containing Neuropeptide. PLoS One 2016; 11:e0147335. [PMID: 26796097 PMCID: PMC4721866 DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0147335] [Citation(s) in RCA: 14] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/12/2015] [Accepted: 01/01/2016] [Indexed: 12/02/2022] Open
Abstract
One emerging principle is that neuromodulators, such as neuropeptides, regulate multiple behaviors, particularly motivated behaviors, e.g., feeding and locomotion. However, how neuromodulators act on multiple neural networks to exert their actions remains poorly understood. These actions depend on the chemical form of the peptide, e.g., an alternation of L- to D- form of an amino acid can endow the peptide with bioactivity, as is the case for the Aplysia peptide GdFFD (where dF indicates D-phenylalanine). GdFFD has been shown to act as an extrinsic neuromodulator in the feeding network, while the all L-amino acid form, GFFD, was not bioactive. Given that both GdFFD/GFFD are also present in pedal neurons that mediate locomotion, we sought to determine whether they impact locomotion. We first examined effects of both peptides on isolated ganglia, and monitored fictive programs using the parapedal commissural nerve (PPCN). Indeed, GdFFD was bioactive and GFFD was not. GdFFD increased the frequency with which neural activity was observed in the PPCN. In part, there was an increase in bursting spiking activity that resembled fictive locomotion. Additionally, there was significant activity between bursts. To determine how the peptide-induced activity in the isolated CNS is translated into behavior, we recorded animal movements, and developed a computer program to automatically track the animal and calculate the path of movement and velocity of locomotion. We found that GdFFD significantly reduced locomotion and induced a foot curl. These data suggest that the increase in PPCN activity observed in the isolated CNS during GdFFD application corresponds to a reduction, rather than an increase, in locomotion. In contrast, GFFD had no effect. Thus, our study suggests that GdFFD may act as an intrinsic neuromodulator in the Aplysia locomotor network. More generally, our study indicates that physiological and behavioral analyses should be combined to evaluate peptide actions.
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Affiliation(s)
- Chao-Yu Yang
- State Key Laboratory of Pharmaceutical Biotechnology, Collaborative Innovation Center of Chemistry for Life Sciences, Jiangsu Engineering Research Center for MicroRNA Biology and Biotechnology, Advanced Institute for Life Sciences, School of Life Sciences, Nanjing University, Nanjing, Jiangsu, China
| | - Ke Yu
- State Key Laboratory of Pharmaceutical Biotechnology, Collaborative Innovation Center of Chemistry for Life Sciences, Jiangsu Engineering Research Center for MicroRNA Biology and Biotechnology, Advanced Institute for Life Sciences, School of Life Sciences, Nanjing University, Nanjing, Jiangsu, China
| | - Ye Wang
- State Key Laboratory of Pharmaceutical Biotechnology, Collaborative Innovation Center of Chemistry for Life Sciences, Jiangsu Engineering Research Center for MicroRNA Biology and Biotechnology, Advanced Institute for Life Sciences, School of Life Sciences, Nanjing University, Nanjing, Jiangsu, China
| | - Song-An Chen
- State Key Laboratory of Pharmaceutical Biotechnology, Collaborative Innovation Center of Chemistry for Life Sciences, Jiangsu Engineering Research Center for MicroRNA Biology and Biotechnology, Advanced Institute for Life Sciences, School of Life Sciences, Nanjing University, Nanjing, Jiangsu, China
| | - Dan-Dan Liu
- State Key Laboratory of Pharmaceutical Biotechnology, Collaborative Innovation Center of Chemistry for Life Sciences, Jiangsu Engineering Research Center for MicroRNA Biology and Biotechnology, Advanced Institute for Life Sciences, School of Life Sciences, Nanjing University, Nanjing, Jiangsu, China
| | - Zheng-Yang Wang
- State Key Laboratory of Pharmaceutical Biotechnology, Collaborative Innovation Center of Chemistry for Life Sciences, Jiangsu Engineering Research Center for MicroRNA Biology and Biotechnology, Advanced Institute for Life Sciences, School of Life Sciences, Nanjing University, Nanjing, Jiangsu, China
| | - Yan-Nan Su
- State Key Laboratory of Pharmaceutical Biotechnology, Collaborative Innovation Center of Chemistry for Life Sciences, Jiangsu Engineering Research Center for MicroRNA Biology and Biotechnology, Advanced Institute for Life Sciences, School of Life Sciences, Nanjing University, Nanjing, Jiangsu, China
| | - Shao-Zhong Yang
- State Key Laboratory of Pharmaceutical Biotechnology, Collaborative Innovation Center of Chemistry for Life Sciences, Jiangsu Engineering Research Center for MicroRNA Biology and Biotechnology, Advanced Institute for Life Sciences, School of Life Sciences, Nanjing University, Nanjing, Jiangsu, China
| | - Ting-Ting Chen
- State Key Laboratory of Pharmaceutical Biotechnology, Collaborative Innovation Center of Chemistry for Life Sciences, Jiangsu Engineering Research Center for MicroRNA Biology and Biotechnology, Advanced Institute for Life Sciences, School of Life Sciences, Nanjing University, Nanjing, Jiangsu, China
| | - Itamar Livnat
- Beckman Institute for Advanced Science and Technology and Department of Chemistry, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, Urbana, Illinois, United States of America
| | - Ferdinand S. Vilim
- Department of Neuroscience and Friedman Brain Institute, Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, New York, New York, United States of America
| | - Elizabeth C. Cropper
- Department of Neuroscience and Friedman Brain Institute, Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, New York, New York, United States of America
| | - Klaudiusz R. Weiss
- Department of Neuroscience and Friedman Brain Institute, Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, New York, New York, United States of America
| | - Jonathan V. Sweedler
- Beckman Institute for Advanced Science and Technology and Department of Chemistry, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, Urbana, Illinois, United States of America
| | - Jian Jing
- State Key Laboratory of Pharmaceutical Biotechnology, Collaborative Innovation Center of Chemistry for Life Sciences, Jiangsu Engineering Research Center for MicroRNA Biology and Biotechnology, Advanced Institute for Life Sciences, School of Life Sciences, Nanjing University, Nanjing, Jiangsu, China
- Department of Neuroscience and Friedman Brain Institute, Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, New York, New York, United States of America
- * E-mail:
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17
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van Dijk D, van der Velde F. A central pattern generator for controlling sequential activation in a neural architecture for sentence processing. Neurocomputing 2015. [DOI: 10.1016/j.neucom.2014.12.113] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.1] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 10/23/2022]
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18
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Functional Characterization of a Vesicular Glutamate Transporter in an Interneuron That Makes Excitatory and Inhibitory Synaptic Connections in a Molluscan Neural Circuit. J Neurosci 2015; 35:9137-49. [PMID: 26085636 DOI: 10.1523/jneurosci.0180-15.2015] [Citation(s) in RCA: 12] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 01/18/2023] Open
Abstract
Understanding circuit function requires the characterization of component neurons and their neurotransmitters. Previous work on radula protraction in the Aplysia feeding circuit demonstrated that critical neurons initiate feeding via cholinergic excitation. In contrast, it is less clear how retraction is mediated at the interneuronal level. In particular, glutamate involvement was suggested, but was not directly confirmed. Here we study a suspected glutamatergic retraction interneuron, B64. We used the representational difference analysis (RDA) method to successfully clone an Aplysia vesicular glutamate transporter (ApVGLUT) from B64 and from a glutamatergic motor neuron B38. Previously, RDA was used to characterize novel neuropeptides. Here we demonstrate its utility for characterizing other types of molecules. Bioinformatics suggests that ApVGLUT is more closely related to mammalian VGLUTs than to Drosophila and Caenorhabditis elegans VGLUTs. We expressed ApVGLUT in a cell line, and demonstrated that it indeed transports glutamate in an ATP and proton gradient-dependent manner. We mapped the ApVGLUT distribution in the CNS using in situ hybridization and immunocytochemistry. Further, we demonstrated that B64 is ApVGLUT positive, supporting the idea that it is glutamatergic. Although glutamate is primarily an excitatory transmitter in the mammalian CNS, B64 elicits inhibitory PSPs in protraction neurons to terminate protraction and excitatory PSPs in retraction neurons to maintain retraction. Pharmacological data indicated that both types of PSPs are mediated by glutamate. Thus, glutamate mediates the dual function of B64 in Aplysia. More generally, our systematic approaches based on RDA may facilitate analyses of transmitter actions in small circuits with identifiable neurons.
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19
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Abstract
We investigate stimulus specificity of repetition priming in a tractable model system; the feeding network of Aplysia. Previous studies primarily focused on an aspect of behavior that is altered during ingestive priming, radula opening. Priming of radula opening occurs when two modulatory peptides [feeding circuit activating peptide (FCAP) and cerebral peptide-2 (CP-2)] are released from the cholinergic command-like neuron cerebral buccal interneuron 2. Effects of FCAP/CP-2 on radula opening motor neurons are cAMP mediated. The present experiments sought to determine whether FCAP/CP-2 and cAMP are also involved in the priming of radula opening during an incompatible activity, i.e., during egestive motor programs. Egestive priming is induced when motor programs are triggered by afferents with processes in the esophageal nerve. We demonstrate that egestive priming is not FCAP/CP-2 mediated. Instead, it is induced by an unrelated peptide (small cardioactive peptide), which exerts PKC-mediated effects. Our data, therefore, suggest that different feeding motor programs are primed via actions of different sets of intercellular and intracellular substances. We suggest that this accounts for the stimulus specificity that can be characteristic of repetition priming. Different stimuli activate different central pattern generator inputs. These inputs release different modulators, which induce functionally distinct motor programs.
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Dargaei Z, Colmers PLW, Hodgson HM, Magoski NS. Electrical coupling between Aplysia bag cell neurons: characterization and role in synchronous firing. J Neurophysiol 2014; 112:2680-96. [PMID: 25185820 DOI: 10.1152/jn.00494.2014] [Citation(s) in RCA: 14] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.4] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 01/09/2023] Open
Abstract
In neuroendocrine cells, hormone release often requires a collective burst of action potentials synchronized by gap junctions. This is the case for the electrically coupled bag cell neurons in the reproductive system of the marine snail, Aplysia californica. These neuroendocrine cells are found in two clusters, and fire a synchronous burst, called the afterdischarge, resulting in neuropeptide secretion and the triggering of ovulation. However, the physiology and pharmacology of the bag cell neuron electrical synapse are not completely understood. As such, we made dual whole cell recordings from pairs of electrically coupled cultured bag cell neurons. The junctional current was nonrectifying and not influenced by postsynaptic voltage. Furthermore, junctional conductance was voltage independent and, not surprisingly, strongly correlated with coupling coefficient magnitude. The electrical synapse also acted as a low-pass filter, although under certain conditions, electrotonic potentials evoked by presynaptic action potentials could drive postsynaptic spikes. If coupled neurons were stimulated to spike simultaneously, they presented a high degree of action potential synchrony compared with not-coupled neurons. The electrical synapse failed to pass various intracellular dyes, but was permeable to Cs(+), and could be inhibited by niflumic acid, meclofenamic acid, or 5-nitro-2-(3-phenylpropylamino)benzoic acid. Finally, extracellular and sharp-electrode recording from the intact bag cell neuron cluster showed that these pharmacological uncouplers disrupted both electrical coupling and afterdischarge generation in situ. Thus electrical synapses promote bag cell neuron firing synchrony and may allow for electrotonic spread of the burst through the network, ultimately contributing to propagation of the species.
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Affiliation(s)
- Zahra Dargaei
- Department of Biomedical and Molecular Sciences, Physiology Graduate Program, Queen's University, Kingston, Ontario, Canada
| | - Phillip L W Colmers
- Department of Biomedical and Molecular Sciences, Physiology Graduate Program, Queen's University, Kingston, Ontario, Canada
| | - Heather M Hodgson
- Department of Biomedical and Molecular Sciences, Physiology Graduate Program, Queen's University, Kingston, Ontario, Canada
| | - Neil S Magoski
- Department of Biomedical and Molecular Sciences, Physiology Graduate Program, Queen's University, Kingston, Ontario, Canada
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