title: Histone deacetylase Rpd3 regulates olfactory projection neuron dendrite targeting via the transcription factor Prospero.
abstract: Compared to the mechanisms of axon guidance, relatively little is known about the transcriptional control of dendrite guidance. The Drosophila olfactory system with its stereotyped organization provides an excellent model to study the transcriptional control of dendrite wiring specificity. Each projection neuron (PN) targets its dendrites to a specific glomerulus in the antennal lobe and its axon stereotypically to higher brain centers. Using a forward genetic screen, we identified a mutation in Rpd3 that disrupts PN targeting specificity. Rpd3 encodes a class I histone deacetylase (HDAC) homologous to mammalian HDAC1 and HDAC2. Rpd3(-/-) PN dendrites that normally target to a dorsolateral glomerulus mistarget to medial glomeruli in the antennal lobe, and axons exhibit a severe overbranching phenotype. These phenotypes can be rescued by postmitotic expression of Rpd3 but not HDAC3, the only other class I HDAC in Drosophila. Furthermore, disruption of the atypical homeodomain transcription factor Prospero (Pros) yields similar phenotypes, which can be rescued by Pros expression in postmitotic neurons. Strikingly, overexpression of Pros can suppress Rpd3(-/-) phenotypes. Our study suggests a specific function for the general chromatin remodeling factor Rpd3 in regulating dendrite targeting in neurons, largely through the postmitotic action of the Pros transcription factor.
authors.affiliation: Howard Hughes Medical Institute, Department of Biology, Stanford University, Stanford, California 94305, USA.
authors.forename: Joy S
authors.initials: JS
authors.lastname: Tea
authors.forename: Takahiro
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Chihara
authors.forename: Liqun
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Luo
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D001369:Axons / Q000502:physiology; D002478:Cells, Cultured; D003712:Dendrites / Q000502:physiology*; D004330:Drosophila; D029721:Drosophila Proteins / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism*; D056284:Histone Deacetylase 1 / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism*; D009154:Mutation; D009419:Nerve Tissue Proteins / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism*; D009687:Nuclear Proteins / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism*; D009833:Olfactory Pathways / Q000502:physiology*; D018034:Olfactory Receptor Neurons / Q000378:metabolism; D010641:Phenotype; D021381:Protein Transport; D014157:Transcription Factors / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism*
chemical_list: D029721:Drosophila Proteins; D009419:Nerve Tissue Proteins; D009687:Nuclear Proteins; D014157:Transcription Factors; C073099:pros protein, Drosophila; C512966:HDAC1 protein, Drosophila; D056284:Histone Deacetylase 1