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The authors discuss research on axon nerve cell death, called apotosis, which has the potential to be blocked through the inhibition of a specific signaling pathway. They comment on a study by neurologist Osterloh in the same issue on a mutation called the Drosphila sterile alpha and Armadillo motif (dsarm) and highlight the study's potential for assisting with the development of drugs to treat neurodegenerative diseases through further study of the Wallerian degeneration neural pathway.

The article presents a study which provides the first in vivo evidence for a function of target of rapamycin (TOR) complex 2 (TORC2) activity in nervous system development. In many sensory systems, dendrites of sensory neurons cover an entire sensory field in a complete and nonredundant manner, a phenomenon called dendritic tiling. The findings of the study suggest that TORC2 acts through the Trc signalling pathway to regulate dendritic tiling.

In this article the authors discuss aspects of specific molecular interactions among the axons of mammalian olfactory neurons that ensure their orderly movement from the nose to the brain. They note the influence of a chemoaffinity theory by the neurobiologist and Noble Laureate R. W. Sperry and provide an in-depth analysis of research by Imai and colleagues demonstrating how axon-axon interactions organize olfactory axons before the reach a targeted area of the brain.

The article offers information on the neural basis of aggression. A study conducted on fighting flies revealed that a small cluster of octopaminergic neurons can make a fly mad. Octopaminergic neuron is inferred to be responsible for aggressive behavior of the fighting fly. Induced aggression varies depending on the levels of octopamine.

The article discusses several studies relating to the retinotopic map, the framework that describes the movement of nerve fibers from the retina to their destination in the brain. An investigation proposed that the chemicals on retinal ganglion cells (RGC) axons could specify different positions. Another study provide evidence that Ryk-mediated repulsion in response is responsible for RGC axon targeting along the medial-lateral axis.

Comments on C. Rogers and colleagues' study identifying the ligands for the NPR-1 receptor and showing that these ligands differentially activate the solitary versus social variants of NPR-1. Ability of synthesized FaRP peptides to activate NPR-1 215GV and NPR-1 215F in a heterologous Xenopus laevis oocyte system; Expression pattern of the NPR-1 ligands.

How does wiring specificity of neural maps emerge during development? Formation of the adult Drosophila olfactory glomerular map begins with the patterning of projection neuron (PN) dendrites at the early pupal stage. To better understand the origin of wiring specificity of this map, we created genetic tools to systematically characterize dendrite patterning across development at PN type-specific resolution. We find that PNs use lineage and birth order combinatorially to build the initial dendritic map. Specifically, birth order directs dendrite targeting in rotating and binary manners for PNs of the anterodorsal and lateral lineages, respectively. Two-photon- and adaptive optical lattice light-sheet microscope-based time-lapse imaging reveals that PN dendrites initiate active targeting with direction-dependent branch stabilization on the timescale of seconds. Moreover, PNs that are used in both the larval and adult olfactory circuits prune their larval-specific dendrites and re-extend new dendrites simultaneously to facilitate timely olfactory map organization. Our work highlights the power and necessity of type-specific neuronal access and time-lapse imaging in identifying wiring mechanisms that underlie complex patterns of functional neural maps. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Hyperexcitability of brain circuits is a common feature of autism spectrum disorders (ASDs). Genetic deletion of a chromatin-binding protein, retinoic acid induced 1 (RAI1), causes Smith-Magenis syndrome (SMS). SMS is a syndromic ASD associated with intellectual disability, autistic features, maladaptive behaviors, overt seizures, and abnormal electroencephalogram (EEG) patterns. The molecular and neural mechanisms underlying abnormal brain activity in SMS remain unclear. Here we show that panneural Rai1 deletions in mice result in increased seizure susceptibility and prolonged hippocampal seizure duration in vivo and increased dentate gyrus population spikes ex vivo. Brain-wide mapping of neuronal activity pinpointed selective cell types within the limbic system, including the hippocampal dentate gyrus granule cells (dGCs) that are hyperactivated by chemoconvulsant administration or sensory experience in Rai1-deficient brains. Deletion of Rai1 from glutamatergic neurons, but not from gamma-aminobutyric acidergic (GABAergic) neurons, was responsible for increased seizure susceptibility. Deleting Rai1 from the Emx1Cre-lineage glutamatergic neurons resulted in abnormal dGC properties, including increased excitatory synaptic transmission and increased intrinsic excitability. Our work uncovers the mechanism of neuronal hyperexcitability in SMS by identifying Rai1 as a negative regulator of dGC intrinsic and synaptic excitability. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Recent advances in single-cell sequencing provide a unique opportunity to gain novel insights into the diversity, lineage, and functions of cell types constituting a tissue/organ. Here, we performed a single-nucleus study of the adult Drosophila renal system, consisting of Malpighian tubules and nephrocytes, which shares similarities with the mammalian kidney. We identified 11 distinct clusters representing renal stem cells, stellate cells, regionally specific principal cells, garland nephrocyte cells, and pericardial nephrocytes. Characterization of the transcription factors specific to each cluster identified fruitless (fru) as playing a role in stem cell regeneration and Hepatocyte nuclear factor 4 (Hnf4) in regulating glycogen and triglyceride metabolism. In addition, we identified a number of genes, including Rho guanine nucleotide exchange factor at 64C (RhoGEF64c), Frequenin 2 (Frq2), Prip, and CG1093 that are involved in regulating the unusual star shape of stellate cells. Importantly, the single-nucleus dataset allows visualization of the expression at the organ level of genes involved in ion transport and junctional permeability, providing a systems-level view of the organization and physiological roles of the tubules. Finally, a cross-species analysis allowed us to match the fly kidney cell types to mouse kidney cell types and planarian protonephridia, knowledge that will help the generation of kidney disease models. Altogether, our study provides a comprehensive resource for studying the fly kidney. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Neurotrophins regulate diverse aspects of neuronal development and plasticity, but their precise in vivo functions during neural circuit assembly in the central brain remain unclear. We show that the neurotrophin receptor tropomyosin-related kinase C (TrkC) is required for dendritic growth and branching of mouse cerebellar Purkinje cells. Sparse TrkC knockout reduced dendrite complexity, but global Purkinje cell knockout had no effect. Removal of the TrkC ligand neurotrophin-3 (NT-3) from cerebellar granule cells, which provide major afferent input to developing Purkinje cell dendrites, rescued the dendrite defects caused by sparse TrkC disruption in Purkinje cells. Our data demonstrate that NT-3 from presynaptic neurons (granule cells) is required for TrkC-dependent competitive dendrite morphogenesis in postsynaptic neurons (Purkinje cells)--a previously unknown mechanism of neural circuit development. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Recognition of environmental cues is essential for the survival of all organisms. Transcriptional changes occur to enable the generation and function of the neural circuits underlying sensory perception. To gain insight into these changes, we generated single-cell transcriptomes of Drosophila olfactory- (ORNs), thermo-, and hygro-sensory neurons at an early developmental and adult stage using single-cell and single-nucleus RNA sequencing. We discovered that ORNs maintain expression of the same olfactory receptors across development. Using receptor expression and computational approaches, we matched transcriptomic clusters corresponding to anatomically and physiologically defined neuron types across multiple developmental stages. We found that cell-type-specific transcriptomes partly reflected axon trajectory choices in development and sensory modality in adults. We uncovered stage-specific genes that could regulate the wiring and sensory responses of distinct ORN types. Collectively, our data reveal transcriptomic features of sensory neuron biology and provide a resource for future studies of their development and physiology. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Neurons undergo substantial morphological and functional changes during development to form precise synaptic connections and acquire specific physiological properties. What are the underlying transcriptomic bases? Here, we obtained the single-cell transcriptomes of Drosophila olfactory projection neurons (PNs) at four developmental stages. We decoded the identity of 21 transcriptomic clusters corresponding to 20 PN types and developed methods to match transcriptomic clusters representing the same PN type across development. We discovered that PN transcriptomes reflect unique biological processes unfolding at each stage-neurite growth and pruning during metamorphosis at an early pupal stage; peaked transcriptomic diversity during olfactory circuit assembly at mid-pupal stages; and neuronal signaling in adults. At early developmental stages, PN types with adjacent birth order share similar transcriptomes. Together, our work reveals principles of cellular diversity during brain development and provides a resource for future studies of neural development in PNs and other neuronal types. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Our understanding of the mechanisms of neural circuit assembly is far from complete. Identification of wiring molecules with novel mechanisms of action will provide insights into how complex and heterogeneous neural circuits assemble during development. In the Drosophila olfactory system, 50 classes of olfactory receptor neurons (ORNs) make precise synaptic connections with 50 classes of partner projection neurons (PNs). Here, we performed an RNA interference screen for cell surface molecules and identified the leucine-rich repeat-containing transmembrane protein known as Fish-lips (Fili) as a novel wiring molecule in the assembly of the Drosophila olfactory circuit. Fili contributes to the precise axon and dendrite targeting of a small subset of ORN and PN classes, respectively. Cell-type-specific expression and genetic analyses suggest that Fili sends a transsynaptic repulsive signal to neurites of nonpartner classes that prevents their targeting to inappropriate glomeruli in the antennal lobe. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We describe a method termed MADM (mosaic analysis with double markers) in mice that allows simultaneous labeling and gene knockout in clones of somatic cells or isolated single cells in vivo. Two reciprocally chimeric genes, each containing the N terminus of one marker and the C terminus of the other marker interrupted by a IoxP-containing intron, are knocked in at identical locations on homologous chromosomes. Functional expression of markers requires Cre-mediated interchromosomal recombination. MADM reveals that interchromosomal recombination can be induced efficiently in vivo in both mitotic and postmitotic cells in all tissues examined. It can be used to create conditional knockouts in small populations of labeled cells, to determine cell lineage, and to trace neuronal connections. To illustrate the utility of MADM, we show that cerebellar granule cell progenitors are fated at an early stage to produce granule cells with axonal projections limited to specific sublayers of the cerebellar cortex. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Focuses on the representation of the glomerular olfactory map in the Drosophila brain. Importance of systematic single-cell tracing of projection neurons; Organizational principles of the nervous systems; Integration of olfactory information.

Investigates the mechanisms regulating the axon branch stability in Drosophila. Role of p190 Rho GTPase activating protein in repressing a retraction signaling pathway; Administration of genome-wide analyses of RhoGAP functions; Use of RNA interference.