Gene expression profiling of inputs to the mesolimbic dopamine circuit
Ontology highlight
ABSTRACT: PRV-Circuit-TRAP of DAT-cre mice injected with PRV-Introvert-GFP in the nucleus accumbens These studies identify important inputs to the mesolimbic dopamine pathway and further show that PRV circuit-directed translating ribosome affinity purification (PRV-Circuit-TRAP) can be broadly applied to identify molecularly defined neurons comprising complex, multisynaptic circuits.
Project description:We report RNA sequencing of single virus-infected neurons upstream of neurons producing corticotropin-releasing hormone (CRH). Analyses of PRV-infected transcriptomes reveal neurons upstream of CRH neurons express diverse and a large variety of signaling molecules. The molecular identities of upstream neurons can be used to superimpose a molecular on neuroanatomical circuit maps.
Project description:We examined here the regulation of gene expression in ventral hippocampus neurons that project to nucleus accumbens (vHPC-NAc) by the transcription factor, ΔFosB. The activity of this circuit is critical to stress-induced social withdrawal. ΔFosB regulates the physiology and behavior of this circuit to produce resilience. Circuit-specific translating ribosomal affinity purification (TRAP) was conducted followed by RNASeq. A strain of floxed Fosb mice (the gene that encodes ΔFosB) was crossed with a ribosomal L10-GFP fusion protein line (Rosa26). To target vHPC-NAc neurons, a retrograde recombinant HSV-Cre was injected into NAc to retrogradely drive expression of GFP and knockout the Fosb gene in vHPC-NAc. Bilateral biopsy punches of vHPC containing GFP-labeled projections were collected, pooled, and processed by TRAP followed by 3rd-generation sequencing of actively translating mRNA. We have now identified Fosb-regulated gene expression in a specific hippocampal-to-accumbens circuit that is important for resilience to stress-induced social withdrawal.
Project description:Unified visual perception relies on the integration of bottom-up and top-down inputs in the primary visual cortex (V1), with top-down inputs known to provide behavior-related modulation on visual processing. However, the organization of top-down inputs in V1 remains unclear. Here, using optogenetics-assisted circuit mapping, we characterized how multiple top-down inputs from higher-order cortical and thalamic areas engage excitatory and inhibitory neurons in V1. Systematic layer- and cell-type-specific profiling of the innervation properties of top-down inputs ultimately revealed that each top-down input employs a unique laminar profile when innervating V1. These profiles partially overlap in superficial layers, bypass layer 4 (L4), and clearly segregate upon reaching deep layers. Specifically, inputs from the medial secondary visual cortex (V2M) and anterior cingulate cortex (ACA) preferentially activate L6 neurons, while inputs from the ventrolateral orbitofrontal cortex (ORBvl) and lateral posterior thalamic nucleus (LP) activate L5 neurons. Having defined the inputs, we conducted independent optogenetic activation studies and discovered that ORBvl and LP inputs selectively activate two types of pyramidal neurons (Pyrs) in L5: Pyr <-- ORBvl and Pyr <-- LP neurons, each with specific electrophysiological properties and gene expression profiles. Retrograde mapping subsequently revealed that Pyr <-- ORBvl neurons preferentially innervate subcortical areas and Pyr <-- LP neurons innervate cortical areas, indicating parallel processing of ORBvl and LP inputs in Pyr-type-specific subnetworks. Further, we found mutual inhibition between these two subnetworks, as LP inputs indirectly inhibit Pyr <-- ORBvl neurons and ORBvl inputs inhibit Pyr <-- LP neurons through local inhibitory neurons. Our study thus deepens understanding of the neuronal mechanisms involved in top-down modulation of visual processing by providing a valuable resource characterizing the layer- and cell-type-specific organization of top-down inputs in V1 and by revealing that L5 Pyr-type-specific subnetworks engage in parallel processing of corticocortical and thalamocortical top-down inputs.
Project description:Major depressive disorder (MDD) is considered as a neural circuit-based polygene syndrome that is mainly triggered by genetic susceptibility and stress factors. The present study employed the Wistar Kyoto (WKY) rat as an animal model with endogenous depression to further investigate the molecular basis of its genetic susceptibility to depression by performing quantitative protemoics analyses of the medial prefrontal cortex (mPFC), nucleus accumbens (NAc), and hippocampus (Hip), respectively.
Project description:Astrocytes, the most abundant cells in the central nervous system, promote synapse formation and help refine neural connectivity. Although they are allocated to spatially distinct regional domains during development, it is unknown whether region-restricted astrocytes are functionally heterogeneous. Here we show that postnatal spinal cord astrocytes express several region-specific genes, and that ventral astrocyte-encoded Semaphorin3a (Sema3a) is required for proper motor neuron and sensory neuron circuit organization. Loss of astrocyte-encoded Sema3a led to dysregulated α−motor neuron axon initial segment orientation, markedly abnormal synaptic inputs, and selective death of α−but not of adjacent γ−motor neurons. Additionally, a subset of TrkA+ sensory afferents projected to ectopic ventral positions. These findings demonstrate that stable maintenance of a positional cue by developing astrocytes influences multiple aspects of sensorimotor circuit formation. More generally, they suggest that regional astrocyte heterogeneity may help to coordinate postnatal neural circuit refinement. 12 total samples consisting of three biological replicates each of flow sorted postnatal day 7 dorsal spinal cord astrocytes, ventral spinal cord astrocytes, dorsal SC non astrocytes, and ventral SC non astrocytes
Project description:Here, we performed transcriptome-profiling experiments on control scramble shRNA and shSLC6A3 HCT116 cells to study the impact DAT silencing on gene networks associated with neoplastic stemness. We also treated control HCT116 cells with the DAT agonist vanoxerine (VXN) to identify commonly regulated networks between DAT knockdown and pharmacological antagonism.
Project description:We used Drosophila genetic and behavioral models to examine AMPH-induced transcriptional changes in DAT-dependent manner, as those would be the most relevant to the stimulatory effects of the drug in the brain. We previously showed that flies respond to AMPH by increasing their locomotor activity and decreasing their sleep in a dopamine-dependent manner. Flies that carry a loss-of-function mutation in the gene encoding the Drosophila DAT homolog (dDATfmn, henceforth referred to as DAT mutants) exhibit heightened activity levels at baseline, consistent with increased levels of extracellular dopamine caused by the impairment of reuptake. In this study we compared gene expression changes in response to AMPH in brains of isogenic w1118 strain (WT) and DAT mutants. We found genes involved in the control of mRNA translation to be significantly upregulated in response to AMPH in a DAT-dependent manner.
Project description:Astrocytes, the most abundant cells in the central nervous system, promote synapse formation and help refine neural connectivity. Although they are allocated to spatially distinct regional domains during development, it is unknown whether region-restricted astrocytes are functionally heterogeneous. Here we show that postnatal spinal cord astrocytes express several region-specific genes, and that ventral astrocyte-encoded Semaphorin3a (Sema3a) is required for proper motor neuron and sensory neuron circuit organization. Loss of astrocyte-encoded Sema3a led to dysregulated α−motor neuron axon initial segment orientation, markedly abnormal synaptic inputs, and selective death of α−but not of adjacent γ−motor neurons. Additionally, a subset of TrkA+ sensory afferents projected to ectopic ventral positions. These findings demonstrate that stable maintenance of a positional cue by developing astrocytes influences multiple aspects of sensorimotor circuit formation. More generally, they suggest that regional astrocyte heterogeneity may help to coordinate postnatal neural circuit refinement.
Project description:The ventral hippocampus (vHPC) is a critical hub in networks that process emotional information. While recent studies have indicated that vHPC projection neurons are functionally dissociable, the basic principles of how the inputs and outputs of the vHPC are organized remain unclear. Here we used viral and sequencing approaches to define the logic of the extended vHPC circuit. Through molecular profiling of vHPC projection neurons, we show that vHPC neurons with distinct projection targets differ in their transcriptional signatures.