title: Teneurins instruct synaptic partner matching in an olfactory map.
abstract: Neurons are interconnected with extraordinary precision to assemble a functional nervous system. Compared to axon guidance, far less is understood about how individual pre- and postsynaptic partners are matched. To ensure the proper relay of olfactory information in the fruitfly Drosophila, axons of ∼50 classes of olfactory receptor neurons (ORNs) form one-to-one connections with dendrites of ∼50 classes of projection neurons (PNs). Here, using genetic screens, we identified two evolutionarily conserved, epidermal growth factor (EGF)-repeat containing transmembrane Teneurin proteins, Ten-m and Ten-a, as synaptic-partner-matching molecules between PN dendrites and ORN axons. Ten-m and Ten-a are highly expressed in select PN-ORN matching pairs. Teneurin loss- and gain-of-function cause specific mismatching of select ORNs and PNs. Finally, Teneurins promote homophilic interactions in vitro, and Ten-m co-expression in non-partner PNs and ORNs promotes their ectopic connections in vivo. We propose that Teneurins instruct matching specificity between synaptic partners through homophilic attraction.
authors.affiliation: Department of Biology, Howard Hughes Medical Institute, Stanford University, Stanford, California 94305, USA.
authors.forename: Weizhe
authors.initials: W
authors.lastname: Hong
authors.forename: Timothy J
authors.initials: TJ
authors.lastname: Mosca
authors.forename: Liqun
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Luo
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D001369:Axons / Q000378:metabolism; D029721:Drosophila Proteins / Q000378:metabolism*; D004331:Drosophila melanogaster / Q000166:cytology* / Q000378:metabolism*; D009833:Olfactory Pathways / Q000502:physiology*; D018034:Olfactory Receptor Neurons / Q000378:metabolism; D011485:Protein Binding; D034622:RNA Interference; D011956:Receptors, Cell Surface / Q000378:metabolism*; D012903:Smell / Q000502:physiology; D013569:Synapses / Q000378:metabolism*; D019063:Tenascin / Q000378:metabolism*
chemical_list: D029721:Drosophila Proteins; D011956:Receptors, Cell Surface; C470835:Ten-a protein, Drosophila; C089140:Ten-m protein, Drosophila; D019063:Tenascin