Allen Institute for Brain Science, 615 Westlake Ave N, Seattle WA, USA.
Allen Institute for Brain Science, 615 Westlake Ave N, Seattle WA, USA.
Curr Opin Neurobiol. 2020 Aug;63:176-188. doi: 10.1016/j.conb.2020.04.002. Epub 2020 Jul 14.
Neuropeptides, members of a large and evolutionarily ancient family of proteinaceous cell-cell signaling molecules, are widely recognized as extremely potent regulators of brain function and behavior. At the cellular level, neuropeptides are known to act mainly via modulation of ion channel and synapse function, but functional impacts emerging at the level of complex cortical synaptic networks have resisted mechanistic analysis. New findings from single-cell RNA-seq transcriptomics now illuminate intricate patterns of cortical neuropeptide signaling gene expression and new tools now offer powerful molecular access to cortical neuropeptide signaling. Here we highlight some of these new findings and tools, focusing especially on prospects for experimental and theoretical exploration of peptidergic and synaptic networks interactions underlying cortical function and plasticity.
神经肽是一类蛋白细胞间信号分子大家族的成员，具有广泛的功能，在进化上非常古老。它们被广泛认为是大脑功能和行为的强效调节剂。在细胞水平上，已知神经肽主要通过调节离子通道和突触功能起作用，但在复杂的皮质突触网络水平上出现的功能影响仍难以进行机制分析。单细胞 RNA-seq 转录组学的新发现现在阐明了皮质神经肽信号转导基因表达的复杂模式，新工具现在为皮质神经肽信号转导提供了强大的分子途径。在这里，我们重点介绍其中的一些新发现和工具，特别关注探索皮质功能和可塑性的基础下，神经肽和突触网络相互作用的实验和理论前景。
