title: Neuroendocrine modulation sustains theC. elegansforward motor state.
abstract: Neuromodulators shape neural circuit dynamics. Combining electron microscopy, genetics, transcriptome profiling, calcium imaging, and optogenetics, we discovered a peptidergic neuron that modulatesC. elegansmotor circuit dynamics. The Six/SO-family homeobox transcription factor UNC-39 governs lineage-specific neurogenesis to give rise to a neuron RID. RID bears the anatomic hallmarks of a specialized endocrine neuron: it harbors near-exclusive dense core vesicles that cluster periodically along the axon, and expresses multiple neuropeptides, including the FMRF-amide-related FLP-14. RID activity increases during forward movement. Ablating RID reduces the sustainability of forward movement, a phenotype partially recapitulated by removing FLP-14. Optogenetic depolarization of RID prolongs forward movement, an effect reduced in the absence of FLP-14. Together, these results establish the role of a neuroendocrine cell RID in sustaining a specific behavioral state inC. elegans.
authors.affiliation: Lunenfeld-Tanenbaum Research Institute, Mount Sinai Hospital, Toronto, Canada.
authors.forename: Maria A
authors.initials: MA
authors.lastname: Lim
authors.affiliation: Lunenfeld-Tanenbaum Research Institute, Mount Sinai Hospital, Toronto, Canada.|Institute of Medical Science, University of Toronto, Toronto, Canada.
authors.forename: Jyothsna
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Chitturi
authors.affiliation: Lunenfeld-Tanenbaum Research Institute, Mount Sinai Hospital, Toronto, Canada.|Department of Physiology, University of Toronto, Toronto, Canada.
authors.forename: Valeriya
authors.initials: V
authors.lastname: Laskova
authors.affiliation: Lunenfeld-Tanenbaum Research Institute, Mount Sinai Hospital, Toronto, Canada.|Department of Physiology, University of Toronto, Toronto, Canada.
authors.forename: Jun
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Meng
authors.affiliation: Institut für Genetik, Technische Universität Braunschweig Carolo Wilhelmina, Braunschweig, Germany.
authors.forename: Daniel
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Findeis
authors.affiliation: Institut für Genetik, Technische Universität Braunschweig Carolo Wilhelmina, Braunschweig, Germany.
authors.forename: Anne
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Wiekenberg
authors.affiliation: Lunenfeld-Tanenbaum Research Institute, Mount Sinai Hospital, Toronto, Canada.
authors.forename: Ben
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Mulcahy
authors.affiliation: Key Laboratory of Modern Acoustics, Ministry of Education, Department of Physics, Nanjing University, Nanjing, China.
authors.forename: Linjiao
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Luo
authors.affiliation: Lunenfeld-Tanenbaum Research Institute, Mount Sinai Hospital, Toronto, Canada.|Department of Physiology, University of Toronto, Toronto, Canada.
authors.forename: Yan
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Li
authors.affiliation: Lunenfeld-Tanenbaum Research Institute, Mount Sinai Hospital, Toronto, Canada.|Department of Physiology, University of Toronto, Toronto, Canada.
authors.forename: Yangning
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Lu
authors.affiliation: Lunenfeld-Tanenbaum Research Institute, Mount Sinai Hospital, Toronto, Canada.
authors.forename: Wesley
authors.initials: W
authors.lastname: Hung
authors.affiliation: Lunenfeld-Tanenbaum Research Institute, Mount Sinai Hospital, Toronto, Canada.
authors.forename: Yixin
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Qu
authors.affiliation: Lunenfeld-Tanenbaum Research Institute, Mount Sinai Hospital, Toronto, Canada.
authors.forename: Chi-Yip
authors.initials: CY
authors.lastname: Ho
authors.affiliation: Lunenfeld-Tanenbaum Research Institute, Mount Sinai Hospital, Toronto, Canada.
authors.forename: Douglas
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Holmyard
authors.affiliation: Center for Brain Science, Harvard University, Cambridge, United States.|Department of Physics, Harvard University, Cambridge, United States.
authors.forename: Ni
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Ji
authors.affiliation: Department of Cell and Developmental Biology, Vanderbilt University, Nashville, United States.
authors.forename: Rebecca
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: McWhirter
authors.affiliation: Center for Brain Science, Harvard University, Cambridge, United States.|Department of Physics, Harvard University, Cambridge, United States.
authors.forename: Aravinthan Dt
authors.initials: AD
authors.lastname: Samuel
authors.affiliation: Department of Cell and Developmental Biology, Vanderbilt University, Nashville, United States.
authors.forename: David M
authors.initials: DM
authors.lastname: Miller
authors.affiliation: Institut für Genetik, Technische Universität Braunschweig Carolo Wilhelmina, Braunschweig, Germany.
authors.forename: Ralf
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Schnabel
authors.affiliation: FAS Center for Systems Biology, Harvard University, Cambridge, United States.
authors.forename: John A
authors.initials: JA
authors.lastname: Calarco
authors.affiliation: Lunenfeld-Tanenbaum Research Institute, Mount Sinai Hospital, Toronto, Canada.|Institute of Medical Science, University of Toronto, Toronto, Canada.|Department of Physiology, University of Toronto, Toronto, Canada.
authors.forename: Mei
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Zhen
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D001522:Behavior, Animal; D017173:Caenorhabditis elegans / Q000502:physiology*; D008124:Locomotion; D009434:Neural Pathways / Q000187:drug effects*; D009474:Neurons / Q000378:metabolism / Q000502:physiology*; D009479:Neuropeptides / Q000378:metabolism*; D009490:Neurosecretory Systems / Q000502:physiology*; D018377:Neurotransmitter Agents / Q000378:metabolism*
chemical_list: D009479:Neuropeptides; D018377:Neurotransmitter Agents
keywords: C. elegans; RNA profiling; developmental biology; motor state; neuroendocrine; neuroscience; peptidergic neurons; stem cells