title: CSF-contacting neurons regulate locomotion by relaying mechanical stimuli to spinal circuits.
abstract: Throughout vertebrates, cerebrospinal fluid-contacting neurons (CSF-cNs) are ciliated cells surrounding the central canal in the ventral spinal cord. Their contribution to modulate locomotion remains undetermined. Recently, we have shown CSF-cNs modulate locomotion by directly projecting onto the locomotor central pattern generators (CPGs), but the sensory modality these cells convey to spinal circuits and their relevance to innate locomotion remain elusive. Here, we demonstrate in vivo that CSF-cNs form an intraspinal mechanosensory organ that detects spinal bending. By performing calcium imaging in moving animals, we show that CSF-cNs respond to both passive and active bending of the spinal cord. In mutants for the channel Pkd2l1, CSF-cNs lose their response to bending and animals show a selective reduction of tail beat frequency, confirming the central role of this feedback loop for optimizing locomotion. Altogether, our study reveals that CSF-cNs constitute a mechanosensory organ operating during locomotion to modulate spinal CPGs.
authors.affiliation: Institut du Cerveau et de la Moelle épinière, Paris 75013, France.|UPMC Univ. Paris 06, Paris 75005, France.|Inserm UMR 1127, Paris 75013, France.|CNRS UMR 7225, Paris 75013, France.
authors.forename: Urs Lucas
authors.initials: UL
authors.lastname: Böhm
authors.affiliation: Institut du Cerveau et de la Moelle épinière, Paris 75013, France.|UPMC Univ. Paris 06, Paris 75005, France.|Inserm UMR 1127, Paris 75013, France.|CNRS UMR 7225, Paris 75013, France.
authors.forename: Andrew
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Prendergast
authors.affiliation: Institut du Cerveau et de la Moelle épinière, Paris 75013, France.|UPMC Univ. Paris 06, Paris 75005, France.|Inserm UMR 1127, Paris 75013, France.|CNRS UMR 7225, Paris 75013, France.|Muséum National d'Histoire Naturelle, Paris 75005, France.
authors.forename: Lydia
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Djenoune
authors.affiliation: Institut du Cerveau et de la Moelle épinière, Paris 75013, France.|UPMC Univ. Paris 06, Paris 75005, France.|Inserm UMR 1127, Paris 75013, France.|CNRS UMR 7225, Paris 75013, France.
authors.forename: Sophie
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Nunes Figueiredo
authors.affiliation: Institut du Cerveau et de la Moelle épinière, Paris 75013, France.|UPMC Univ. Paris 06, Paris 75005, France.|Inserm UMR 1127, Paris 75013, France.|CNRS UMR 7225, Paris 75013, France.
authors.forename: Johanna
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Gomez
authors.affiliation: Institut du Cerveau et de la Moelle épinière, Paris 75013, France.|UPMC Univ. Paris 06, Paris 75005, France.|Inserm UMR 1127, Paris 75013, France.|CNRS UMR 7225, Paris 75013, France.
authors.forename: Caleb
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Stokes
authors.affiliation: Institut du Cerveau et de la Moelle épinière, Paris 75013, France.|UPMC Univ. Paris 06, Paris 75005, France.|Inserm UMR 1127, Paris 75013, France.|CNRS UMR 7225, Paris 75013, France.
authors.forename: Sonya
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Kaiser
authors.affiliation: Neural Circuits and Behaviour Group, University of Bergen, Bergen 5008, Norway.|Division of Molecular and Developmental Biology, National Institute of Genetics and Department of Genetics, Sokendai (The Graduate University for Advanced Studies), Mishima, Shizuoka 411-8540, Japan.
authors.forename: Maximilliano
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Suster
authors.affiliation: Division of Molecular and Developmental Biology, National Institute of Genetics and Department of Genetics, Sokendai (The Graduate University for Advanced Studies), Mishima, Shizuoka 411-8540, Japan.
authors.forename: Koichi
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Kawakami
authors.affiliation: Muséum National d'Histoire Naturelle, Paris 75005, France.
authors.forename: Marine
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Charpentier
authors.affiliation: Muséum National d'Histoire Naturelle, Paris 75005, France.
authors.forename: Jean-Paul
authors.initials: JP
authors.lastname: Concordet
authors.affiliation: Institut du Cerveau et de la Moelle épinière, Paris 75013, France.|UPMC Univ. Paris 06, Paris 75005, France.|Inserm UMR 1127, Paris 75013, France.|CNRS UMR 7225, Paris 75013, France.
authors.forename: Jean-Paul
authors.initials: JP
authors.lastname: Rio
authors.affiliation: Institut Curie, Paris 75005, France.|CNRS UMR 3215, Paris 75005, France.|Inserm U 934, Paris 75005, France.
authors.forename: Filippo
authors.identifier: http://orcid.org/0000-0001-8551-2846
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Del Bene
authors.affiliation: Institut du Cerveau et de la Moelle épinière, Paris 75013, France.|UPMC Univ. Paris 06, Paris 75005, France.|Inserm UMR 1127, Paris 75013, France.|CNRS UMR 7225, Paris 75013, France.
authors.forename: Claire
authors.identifier: http://orcid.org/0000-0002-1668-4975
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Wyart
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D001696:Biomechanical Phenomena; D002465:Cell Movement; D002555:Cerebrospinal Fluid / Q000166:cytology* / Q000378:metabolism; D005260:Female; D008297:Male; D008465:Mechanoreceptors / Q000166:cytology / Q000378:metabolism; D009474:Neurons / Q000166:cytology* / Q000378:metabolism; D013116:Spinal Cord / Q000737:chemistry / Q000166:cytology* / Q000378:metabolism; D050051:Transient Receptor Potential Channels / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism; D015027:Zebrafish / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism; D029961:Zebrafish Proteins / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism
chemical_list: D050051:Transient Receptor Potential Channels; D029961:Zebrafish Proteins