Regulatory Logic of Pan-Neuronal Gene Expression in C. elegans.
While neuronal cell types display an astounding degree of phenotypic diversity, most if not all neuron types share a core panel of terminal features. However, little is known about how pan-neuronal expression patterns are genetically programmed. Through an extensive analysis of the cis-regulatory control regions of a battery of pan-neuronal C. elegans genes, including genes involved in synaptic vesicle biology and neuropeptide signaling, we define a common organizational principle in the regulation of pan-neuronal genes in the form of a surprisingly complex array of seemingly redundant, parallel-acting cis-regulatory modules that direct expression to broad, overlapping domains throughout the nervous system. These parallel-acting cis-regulatory modules are responsive to a multitude of distinct trans-acting factors. Neuronal gene expression programs therefore fall into two fundamentally distinct classes. Neuron-type-specific genes are generally controlled by discrete and non-redundantly acting regulatory inputs, while pan-neuronal gene expression is controlled by diverse, coincident and seemingly redundant regulatory inputs.
Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biophysics, Howard Hughes Medical Institute, Columbia University Medical Center, New York, NY, USA.
Nikolaos
N
Stefanakis
Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biophysics, Howard Hughes Medical Institute, Columbia University Medical Center, New York, NY, USA.
Ines
I
Carrera
Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biophysics, Howard Hughes Medical Institute, Columbia University Medical Center, New York, NY, USA. Electronic address: or38@columbia.edu.
Oliver
O
Hobert
D000818:Animals; D030801:Animals, Genetically Modified; D017173:Caenorhabditis elegans / Q000254:growth & development / Q000378:metabolism*; D029742:Caenorhabditis elegans Proteins / Q000096:biosynthesis* / Q000235:genetics; D018507:Gene Expression Regulation, Developmental; D009474:Neurons / Q000378:metabolism*
D029742:Caenorhabditis elegans Proteins