Past experience shapes sexually dimorphic neuronal wiring through monoaminergic signalling

Nature
Emily A Bayer, Oliver Hobert

Abstract

Differences between female and male brains exist across the animal kingdom and extend from molecular to anatomical features. Here we show that sexually dimorphic anatomy, gene expression and function in the nervous system can be modulated by past experiences. In the nematode Caenorhabditis elegans, sexual differentiation entails the sex-specific pruning of synaptic connections between neurons that are shared by both sexes, giving rise to sexually dimorphic circuits in adult animals1. We discovered that starvation during juvenile stages is memorized in males to suppress the emergence of sexually dimorphic synaptic connectivity. These circuit changes result in increased chemosensory responsiveness in adult males following juvenile starvation. We find that an octopamine-mediated starvation signal dampens the production of serotonin (5-HT) to convey the memory of starvation. Serotonin production is monitored by a 5-HT1A serotonin receptor homologue that acts cell-autonomously to promote the pruning of sexually dimorphic synaptic connectivity under well-fed conditions. Our studies demonstrate how life history shapes neurotransmitter production, synaptic connectivity and behavioural output in a sexually dimorphic circuit.

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Citations

Apr 26, 2019·Journal of Developmental Biology·Elizabeth M DiLoretoJagan Srinivasan
May 1, 2019·Cellular and Molecular Life Sciences : CMLS·Ardalan HendiKota Mizumoto
Mar 25, 2019·Frontiers in Behavioral Neuroscience·Giedrius TrakimasIndrikis Krams
Mar 16, 2019·Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America·Hui LiuZheng-Xing Wu
Dec 4, 2020·Genetics·L Ryan Baugh, Patrick J Hu
Oct 16, 2020·Journal of Neurogenetics·He Liu, Yun Zhang
May 7, 2021·Genetics·L Ryan Baugh, Patrick J Hu
Jun 10, 2021·Current Biology : CB·Jacqueline T Weiss, Jeffrey M Donlea

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Methods Mentioned

BETA
environmental stress
transgenic
smFISH

Software Mentioned

iBLINC
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ZEN
GRASP
Adobe Photoshop
Adobe Illustrator
Zeiss Zen

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