Department of 'Circuits - Computation - Models', Max Planck Institute of Neurobiology, 82152 Martinsried, Germany.
Department of 'Circuits - Computation - Models', Max Planck Institute of Neurobiology, 82152 Martinsried, Germany
Development. 2019 Jan 29;146(2):dev169763. doi: 10.1242/dev.169763.
In the visual system, T4/T5 neurons represent the first stage of computation of the direction of visual motion. T4 and T5 neurons exist in four subtypes, each responding to motion in one of the four cardinal directions and projecting axons into one of the four lobula plate layers. However, all T4/T5 neurons share properties essential for sensing motion. How T4/T5 neurons acquire their properties during development is poorly understood. We reveal that the transcription factors SoxN and Sox102F control the acquisition of properties common to all T4/T5 neuron subtypes, i.e. the layer specificity of dendrites and axons. Accordingly, adult flies are motion blind after disruption of or in maturing T4/T5 neurons. We further find that the transcription factors Ato and Dac are redundantly required in T4/T5 neuron progenitors for SoxN and Sox102F expression in T4/T5 neurons, linking the transcriptional programmes specifying progenitor identity to those regulating the acquisition of morphological properties in neurons. Our work will help to link structure, function and development in a neuronal type performing a computation that is conserved across vertebrate and invertebrate visual systems.
在视觉系统中，T4/T5 神经元代表视觉运动方向计算的第一阶段。T4 和 T5 神经元存在四种亚型，每种亚型对四个基本方向中的一个方向的运动作出反应，并将轴突投射到四个小叶板层中的一个中。然而，所有的 T4/T5 神经元都具有感知运动所必需的特性。T4/T5 神经元在发育过程中是如何获得这些特性的，目前还知之甚少。我们揭示了转录因子 SoxN 和 Sox102F 控制所有 T4/T5 神经元亚型共同特性的获得，即树突和轴突的层特异性。因此，在成熟的 T4/T5 神经元中破坏 或 后，成年果蝇会出现运动盲。我们进一步发现，转录因子 Ato 和 Dac 在 T4/T5 神经元祖细胞中冗余地需要 SoxN 和 Sox102F 在 T4/T5 神经元中的表达，将指定祖细胞身份的转录程序与调节神经元形态特性获得的程序联系起来。我们的工作将有助于将结构、功能和发育联系起来，在一个执行跨脊椎动物和无脊椎动物视觉系统都保守的计算的神经元类型中。
