Havrilak Jamie A, Cheng MingHe, Al-Shaer Layla, Leach Whitney B, Yagodich Mia, Faltine-Gonzalez Dylan, Layden Michael J
Lehigh University Department of Biological Sciences.
Current affiliation: Johns Hopkins Department of Biomedical Engineering.
bioRxiv. 2025 May 15:2025.05.12.653478. doi: 10.1101/2025.05.12.653478.
Understanding how cnidarians pattern their nervous systems can provide insight into the ancestral mechanisms of neurogenesis that are shared with bilaterians, shedding light on the evolution of nervous systems. While previous studies have revealed deeply conserved mechanisms for neural induction and progenitor selection between cnidarians and bilaterians, less is known about how distinct neuronal subtypes are specified over time in cnidarians. We utilized single-cell mRNA sequencing to profile expressing cells across embryonic and planula-larva stages of neurogenesis, and functional experiments identified a dynamic role for over time. Our analysis revealed that unique neuronal subtypes emerge at different developmental stages, providing evidence for temporal patterning in developing cnidarian nerve nets. This can provide a foundation to better our understanding of neurogenic gene regulatory networks, and to compare neurogenesis across cnidarians, and with bilaterians, to improve our knowledge of nervous system evolution.
了解刺胞动物如何构建其神经系统，有助于深入了解与两侧对称动物共有的神经发生的原始机制，从而揭示神经系统的进化过程。虽然先前的研究已经揭示了刺胞动物和两侧对称动物在神经诱导和祖细胞选择方面存在高度保守的机制，但对于刺胞动物中不同神经元亚型如何随时间确定，我们所知甚少。我们利用单细胞mRNA测序对神经发生的胚胎期和浮浪幼虫期的表达细胞进行了分析，功能实验确定了一段时间内的动态作用。我们的分析表明，独特的神经元亚型在不同的发育阶段出现，为发育中的刺胞动物神经网的时间模式提供了证据。这可以为更好地理解神经发生基因调控网络奠定基础，并比较刺胞动物之间以及与两侧对称动物的神经发生，以增进我们对神经系统进化的认识。
