Using expression profiles of Caenorhabditis elegans neurons to identify genes that mediate synaptic connectivity.

PLoS Computational Biology
Leehod BaruchEran Segal

Abstract

Synaptic wiring of neurons in Caenorhabditis elegans is largely invariable between animals. It has been suggested that this feature stems from genetically encoded molecular markers that guide the neurons in the final stage of synaptic formation. Identifying these markers and unraveling the logic by which they direct synapse formation is a key challenge. Here, we address this task by constructing a probabilistic model that attempts to explain the neuronal connectivity diagram of C. elegans as a function of the expression patterns of its neurons. By only considering neuron pairs that are known to be connected by chemical or electrical synapses, we focus on the final stage of synapse formation, in which neurons identify their designated partners. Our results show that for many neurons the neuronal expression map of C. elegans can be used to accurately predict the subset of adjacent neurons that will be chosen as its postsynaptic partners. Notably, these predictions can be achieved using the expression patterns of only a small number of specific genes that interact in a combinatorial fashion.

References

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Citations

May 17, 2011·PLoS Computational Biology·Lior WolfEytan Ruppin
Jan 17, 2016·Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America·Ben D Fulcher, Alex Fornito
Jan 31, 2015·Biological cybernetics·Sol Lim, Marcus Kaiser
Jan 22, 2011·PLoS Computational Biology·Leon French, Paul Pavlidis
Dec 3, 2016·Brain Structure & Function·Ahmed MahfouzMarcel J T Reinders
Mar 23, 2017·Human Brain Mapping·Marie ForestCelia M T Greenwood
Feb 13, 2018·PLoS Computational Biology·Aurina Arnatkevic̆iūtėAlex Fornito
May 26, 2020·Neuroinformatics·Nestor TimonidisPaul Tiesinga
Aug 6, 2019·Frontiers in Neural Circuits·Aurina ArnatkevičiūtėAlex Fornito
Dec 16, 2020·Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America·István A KovácsAlbert-László Barabási
Dec 7, 2019·Neuron·Dániel L Barabási, Albert-László Barabási
Dec 9, 2020·Entropy·Michael Nosonovsky, Prosun Roy
Jul 9, 2021·Cell·Seth R TaylorDavid M Miller

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Methods Mentioned

BETA
transgenic

Software Mentioned

Wormatlas
AdaBoost

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