Origin of wiring specificity in an olfactory map revealed by neuron type-specific, time-lapse imaging of dendrite targeting

  1. Kenneth Kin Lam Wong
  2. Tongchao Li  Is a corresponding author
  3. Tian-Ming Fu
  4. Gaoxiang Liu
  5. Cheng Lyu
  6. Sayeh Kohani
  7. Qijing Xie
  8. David J Luginbuhl
  9. Srigokul Upadhyayula
  10. Eric Betzig
  11. Liqun Luo  Is a corresponding author
  1. Howard Hughes Medical Institute, Stanford University, United States
  2. Janelia Research Campus, United States
  3. University of California, Berkeley, United States

Abstract

How does wiring specificity of neural maps emerge during development? Formation of the adult Drosophila olfactory glomerular map begins with patterning of projection neuron (PN) dendrites at the early pupal stage. To better understand the origin of wiring specificity of this map, we created genetic tools to systematically characterize dendrite patterning across development at PN type-specific resolution. We find that PNs use lineage and birth order combinatorially to build the initial dendritic map. Specifically, birth order directs dendrite targeting in rotating and binary manners for PNs of the anterodorsal and lateral lineages, respectively. Two-photon- and adaptive optical lattice light-sheet microscope-based time-lapse imaging reveals that PN dendrites initiate active targeting with direction-dependent branch stabilization on the timescale of seconds. Moreover, PNs that are used in both the larval and adult olfactory circuits prune their larval-specific dendrites and re-extend new dendrites simultaneously to facilitate timely olfactory map organization. Our work highlights the power and necessity of type-specific neuronal access and time-lapse imaging in identifying wiring mechanisms that underlie complex patterns of functional neural maps.

Data availability

Figure 3 - Source Data 1, Figure 5 - Source Data 1, Figure 6 - Source Data 1, and Figure 7 - Source Data 1 contain the numerical and statistical data used to generate the figures.

The following previously published data sets were used

Article and author information

Author details

  1. Kenneth Kin Lam Wong

    1Department of Biology, Howard Hughes Medical Institute, Stanford University, Stanford, United States
    Competing interests
    The authors declare that no competing interests exist.
  2. Tongchao Li

    1Department of Biology, Howard Hughes Medical Institute, Stanford University, Stanford, United States
    For correspondence
    ltongchao@outlook.com
    Competing interests
    The authors declare that no competing interests exist.
  3. Tian-Ming Fu

    Janelia Research Campus, Ashburn, United States
    Competing interests
    The authors declare that no competing interests exist.
    ORCID icon "This ORCID iD identifies the author of this article:" 0000-0001-6265-0859
  4. Gaoxiang Liu

    Department of Molecular and Cell Biology, University of California, Berkeley, Berkeley, United States
    Competing interests
    The authors declare that no competing interests exist.
  5. Cheng Lyu

    Department of Biology, Howard Hughes Medical Institute, Stanford University, Stanford, United States
    Competing interests
    The authors declare that no competing interests exist.
  6. Sayeh Kohani

    Department of Biology, Howard Hughes Medical Institute, Stanford University, Stanford, United States
    Competing interests
    The authors declare that no competing interests exist.
  7. Qijing Xie

    Department of Biology, Howard Hughes Medical Institute, Stanford University, Stanford, United States
    Competing interests
    The authors declare that no competing interests exist.
  8. David J Luginbuhl

    Department of Biology, Howard Hughes Medical Institute, Stanford University, Stanford, United States
    Competing interests
    The authors declare that no competing interests exist.
  9. Srigokul Upadhyayula

    Department of Molecular and Cell Biology, University of California, Berkeley, Berkeley, United States
    Competing interests
    The authors declare that no competing interests exist.
  10. Eric Betzig

    Janelia Research Campus, Ashburn, United States
    Competing interests
    The authors declare that no competing interests exist.
  11. Liqun Luo

    Department of Biology, Howard Hughes Medical Institute, Stanford University, Stanford, United States
    For correspondence
    lluo@stanford.edu
    Competing interests
    The authors declare that no competing interests exist.
    ORCID icon "This ORCID iD identifies the author of this article:" 0000-0001-5467-9264

Funding

National Institutes of Health (R01 DC005982)

  • Liqun Luo

Philomathia Foundation

  • Gaoxiang Liu
  • Srigokul Upadhyayula

Chan Zuckerberg Initiative

  • Srigokul Upadhyayula

National Institutes of Health (1K99DC01883001)

  • Tongchao Li

Howard Hughes Medical Institute

  • Eric Betzig
  • Liqun Luo

The funders had no role in study design, data collection and interpretation, or the decision to submit the work for publication.

Reviewing Editor

  1. Sonia Sen, Tata Institute for Genetics and Society, India

Version history

  1. Received: December 11, 2022
  2. Preprint posted: December 29, 2022 (view preprint)
  3. Accepted: March 27, 2023
  4. Accepted Manuscript published: March 28, 2023 (version 1)
  5. Version of Record published: May 18, 2023 (version 2)

Copyright

© 2023, Wong et al.

This article is distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License permitting unrestricted use and redistribution provided that the original author and source are credited.

Metrics

  • 2,643
    views
  • 410
    downloads
  • 1
    citations

Views, downloads and citations are aggregated across all versions of this paper published by eLife.

Download links

A two-part list of links to download the article, or parts of the article, in various formats.

Downloads (link to download the article as PDF)

Open citations (links to open the citations from this article in various online reference manager services)

Cite this article (links to download the citations from this article in formats compatible with various reference manager tools)

  1. Kenneth Kin Lam Wong
  2. Tongchao Li
  3. Tian-Ming Fu
  4. Gaoxiang Liu
  5. Cheng Lyu
  6. Sayeh Kohani
  7. Qijing Xie
  8. David J Luginbuhl
  9. Srigokul Upadhyayula
  10. Eric Betzig
  11. Liqun Luo
(2023)
Origin of wiring specificity in an olfactory map revealed by neuron type-specific, time-lapse imaging of dendrite targeting
eLife 12:e85521.
https://doi.org/10.7554/eLife.85521

Share this article

https://doi.org/10.7554/eLife.85521

Further reading

    1. Developmental Biology
    Edgar M Pera, Josefine Nilsson-De Moura ... Ivana Milas
    Research Article

    We previously showed that SerpinE2 and the serine protease HtrA1 modulate fibroblast growth factor (FGF) signaling in germ layer specification and head-to-tail development of Xenopus embryos. Here, we present an extracellular proteolytic mechanism involving this serpin-protease system in the developing neural crest (NC). Knockdown of SerpinE2 by injected antisense morpholino oligonucleotides did not affect the specification of NC progenitors but instead inhibited the migration of NC cells, causing defects in dorsal fin, melanocyte, and craniofacial cartilage formation. Similarly, overexpression of the HtrA1 protease impaired NC cell migration and the formation of NC-derived structures. The phenotype of SerpinE2 knockdown was overcome by concomitant downregulation of HtrA1, indicating that SerpinE2 stimulates NC migration by inhibiting endogenous HtrA1 activity. SerpinE2 binds to HtrA1, and the HtrA1 protease triggers degradation of the cell surface proteoglycan Syndecan-4 (Sdc4). Microinjection of Sdc4 mRNA partially rescued NC migration defects induced by both HtrA1 upregulation and SerpinE2 downregulation. These epistatic experiments suggest a proteolytic pathway by a double inhibition mechanism:

    SerpinE2 ┤HtrA1 protease ┤Syndecan-4 → NC cell migration.

    1. Developmental Biology
    2. Neuroscience
    Kristine B Walhovd, Stine K Krogsrud ... Didac Vidal-Pineiro
    Research Article

    Human fetal development has been associated with brain health at later stages. It is unknown whether growth in utero, as indexed by birth weight (BW), relates consistently to lifespan brain characteristics and changes, and to what extent these influences are of a genetic or environmental nature. Here we show remarkably stable and lifelong positive associations between BW and cortical surface area and volume across and within developmental, aging and lifespan longitudinal samples (N = 5794, 4–82 y of age, w/386 monozygotic twins, followed for up to 8.3 y w/12,088 brain MRIs). In contrast, no consistent effect of BW on brain changes was observed. Partly environmental effects were indicated by analysis of twin BW discordance. In conclusion, the influence of prenatal growth on cortical topography is stable and reliable through the lifespan. This early-life factor appears to influence the brain by association of brain reserve, rather than brain maintenance. Thus, fetal influences appear omnipresent in the spacetime of the human brain throughout the human lifespan. Optimizing fetal growth may increase brain reserve for life, also in aging.