Decapentaplegic acutely defines the connectivity of central pacemaker neurons in drosophila

Polcownuk, S. , Yoshii, T. and Ceriani, M. F. (2021) Decapentaplegic acutely defines the connectivity of central pacemaker neurons in drosophila. Journal of Neuroscience, 41(40), pp. 8338-8350. (doi: 10.1523/JNEUROSCI.0397-21.2021) (PMID:34429376)

Abstract

Rhythmic rest-activity cycles are controlled by an endogenous clock. In Drosophila, this clock resides in ∼150 neurons organized in clusters whose hierarchy changes in response to environmental conditions. The concerted activity of the circadian network is necessary for the adaptive responses to synchronizing environmental stimuli. Thus far, work was devoted to unravel the logic of the coordination of different clusters focusing on neurotransmitters and neuropeptides. We further explored communication in the adult male brain through ligands belonging to the bone morphogenetic protein (BMP) pathway. Herein we show that the lateral ventral neurons (LNvs) express the small morphogen decapentaplegic (DPP). DPP expression in the large LNvs triggered a period lengthening phenotype, the downregulation of which caused reduced rhythmicity and affected anticipation at dawn and dusk, underscoring DPP per se conveys time-of-day relevant information. Surprisingly, DPP expression in the large LNvs impaired circadian remodeling of the small LNv axonal terminals, likely through local modulation of the guanine nucleotide exchange factor Trio. These findings open the provocative possibility that the BMP pathway is recruited to strengthen/reduce the connectivity among specific clusters along the day and thus modulate the contribution of the clusters to the circadian network.

• Item Type: Articles
• Additional Information: S.P. was supported by a graduate fellowship from the Argentina National Research Council for Science and Technology and a postgraduate fellowship from the National Agency for the Promotion of Science and Technology of Argentina. This work was supported by grants from the National Agency for the Promotion of Science and Technology of Argentina (PICT2010-1874 and PICT2015-2041 to M.F.C.) and the Japan Society for the Promotion of Science (KAKENHI 15H05600) to T.Y.
• Status: Published
• Refereed: Yes
• Glasgow Author(s) Enlighten ID: Polcownuk, Dr Sofia
• Authors: Polcownuk, S., Yoshii, T., and Ceriani, M. F.
• College/School: College of Medical Veterinary and Life Sciences > School of Cancer Sciences
• Journal Name: Journal of Neuroscience
• Publisher: Society for Neuroscience
• ISSN: 0270-6474
• ISSN (Online): 1529-2401
• Published Online: 24 August 2021