Centre for Developmental Neurobiology, King's College London, London SE1 1UL, UK; School of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering, Georgia Institute of Technology, Atlanta, GA 30332-0100, USA.
Centre for Developmental Neurobiology, King's College London, London SE1 1UL, UK.
Cell Rep. 2020 Dec 22;33(12):108521. doi: 10.1016/j.celrep.2020.108521.
Responsiveness to external cues is a hallmark of biological systems. In complex environments, it is crucial for organisms to remain responsive to specific inputs even as other internal or external factors fluctuate. Here, we show how the nematode Caenorhabditis elegans can discriminate between different food levels to modulate its lifespan despite temperature perturbations. This end-to-end robustness from environment to physiology is mediated by food-sensing neurons that communicate via transforming growth factor β (TGF-β) and serotonin signals to form a multicellular gene network. Specific regulations in this network change sign with temperature to maintain similar food responsiveness in the lifespan output. In contrast to robustness of stereotyped outputs, our findings uncover a more complex robustness process involving the higher order function of discrimination in food responsiveness. This process involves rewiring a multicellular network to compensate for temperature and provides a basis for understanding gene-environment interactions. Together, our findings unveil sensory computations that integrate environmental cues to govern physiology.
对外界线索的反应是生物系统的一个显著特征。在复杂的环境中，即使其他内部或外部因素波动，生物体对于特定输入保持响应是至关重要的。在这里，我们展示了秀丽隐杆线虫如何在温度波动的情况下，通过食物感应神经元来辨别不同的食物水平，从而调节其寿命。这种从环境到生理的端到端鲁棒性是通过转化生长因子 β（TGF-β）和血清素信号的传递来实现的，这些信号通过形成一个多细胞基因网络进行交流。该网络中的特定调节会随着温度的变化而改变信号，以维持在寿命输出中相似的食物响应性。与刻板输出的鲁棒性相反，我们的发现揭示了一个更复杂的鲁棒性过程，涉及到在食物响应性方面的更高阶的辨别功能。这个过程涉及到重新布线一个多细胞网络，以补偿温度，并为理解基因-环境相互作用提供了基础。总之，我们的发现揭示了整合环境线索以调节生理的感觉计算。
