Project description:Our ability to sense and move our bodies relies on proprioceptors, sensory neurons that detect mechanical forces within the body. Proprioceptors are diverse: different subtypes detect different features of joint kinematics, such as position, directional movement, and vibration. However, because they are located within complex and dynamic peripheral tissues, the underlying mechanisms of proprioceptor feature selectivity remain poorly understood. Here, we investigate molecular and biomechanical contributions to proprioceptor diversity in the Drosophila leg. Using single-nucleus RNA sequencing, we found that different proprioceptor subtypes express similar complements of mechanosensory and other ion channels. However, anatomical reconstruction of the proprioceptive organ and connected tendons revealed major biomechanical differences between proprioceptor subtypes. We constructed a computational model of the proprioceptors and tendons, which identified a putative biomechanical mechanism for joint angle selectivity. The model also predicted the existence of a goniotopic map of joint angle among position-tuned proprioceptors, which we confirmed using calcium imaging. Our findings suggest that biomechanical specialization is a key determinant of proprioceptor feature selectivity in Drosophila. More broadly, our discovery of proprioceptive maps in the fly leg reveals common organizational principles between proprioception and other topographically organized sensory systems.
Project description:The lung contains numerous specialized cell-types with distinct roles in tissue function and integrity. To clarify the origins and mechanisms generating cell heterogeneity, we created a comprehensive topographic atlas of early human lung development. Here, we report 83 cell states, several spatially-resolved developmental trajectories and predict cell interactions within defined tissue niches. We integrated scRNA-Seq and spatially resolved transcriptomics into a web-based, open platform for interactive exploration. We show distinct gene expression programs, accompanying sequential events of cell differentiation and maturation of the secretory and neuroendocrine cell-types in proximal epithelium. We define the origin of airway fibroblasts associated with airway smooth muscle in bronchovascular bundles and describe a trajectory of Schwann cell progenitors to intrinsic parasympathetic neurons controlling bronchoconstriction. Our atlas provides a rich resource for further research and a reference for defining deviations from homeostatic and repair mechanisms leading to pulmonary diseases.
Project description:The lung contains numerous specialized cell-types with distinct roles in tissue function and integrity. To clarify the origins and mechanisms generating cell heterogeneity, we created a comprehensive topographic atlas of early human lung development. Here, we report 83 cell states, several spatially-resolved developmental trajectories and predict cell interactions within defined tissue niches. We integrated scRNA-Seq and spatially resolved transcriptomics into a web-based, open platform for interactive exploration. We show distinct gene expression programs, accompanying sequential events of cell differentiation and maturation of the secretory and neuroendocrine cell-types in proximal epithelium. We define the origin of airway fibroblasts associated with airway smooth muscle in bronchovascular bundles and describe a trajectory of Schwann cell progenitors to intrinsic parasympathetic neurons controlling bronchoconstriction. Our atlas provides a rich resource for further research and a reference for defining deviations from homeostatic and repair mechanisms leading to pulmonary diseases.
Project description:Adult leg muscle precursors are associated to leg imaginal disc, here we provide bulk RNA sequecing of FACS sorted myoblasts from dissected imaginal leg discs at beginning of pupation.
Project description:This SuperSeries is composed of the following subset Series: GSE33149: Substrate selectivity for semisynthetic CK2 proteins with various posttranslational modifications GSE33150: Substrate selectivity for semisynthetic CK2 proteins with Pin1 Refer to individual Series
Project description:Although smoking-induced lung disease tends to be more common in the upper lobe, it is not known if this results from the skewed distribution of inhaled cigarette smoke or increased susceptibility of the upper lobes to these disorders. The distribution of inhaled cigarette smoke within the lung is complex, depending on lung pressure-volume relationships, gravity, individual smoking habits and the properties of the individual components of cigarette smoke. With the knowledge that the small airway epithelium is the earliest site of smoking-induced lung disease, and that the small airway epithelium is acutely sensitive to inhaled cigarette smoke with significant changes in the up- and down-regulation of hundreds of genes, we compared upper vs lower lobe gene expression in the small airway epithelium of the same cigarette smokers to determine if the gene expression patterns were similar or different. Active smokers (n=11) with early evidence of smoking-induced lung disease (normal spirometry but low diffusing capacity) underwent bronchoscopy and brushing of the small airway epithelium to compare upper vs lower lobe genome-wide gene expression assessed by microarray. Interestingly, cluster and principal component analysis demonstrated that, for each individual, the expression of the known small airway epithelium smoking-responsive genes were remarkably similar as upper vs lower lobe pairs, although, as expected, there were differences in the smoking-induced changes in gene expression from individual to individual. Thus, while there may be topographic differences in the distribution of cigarette smoke, sufficient smoke reaches the upper vs lower lobe small airway epithelium so that, within each smoker, the upper vs lower lobe gene expression are similar. These observations support the concept that the topographic differences in the occurrence of the smoking-induced lung diseases are likely secondary to topographic differences in the susceptibility of the upper vs lower lobes to cigarette smoke, not the topographic differences in distribution of inhaled cigarette smoke.