Journal
PROCEEDINGS OF THE NATIONAL ACADEMY OF SCIENCES OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA
Volume 117, Issue 32, Pages 19544-19555Publisher
NATL ACAD SCIENCES
DOI: 10.1073/pnas.1918797117
Keywords
brain; evolution; neural circuit; gene regulatory network; homology
Categories
Funding
- Coordenacao de Aperfeicoamento de Pessoal de Nivel Superior Foundation -Ministry of Education of Brazil [BEX 13162/13-6]
- Institute of Psychiatry, Psychology & Neuroscience -King's College London Independent Researcher Award
- Research Foundation -Flanders (FWO) postdoctoral grant
- Flemish FWO Grants [G065408.N10, G078914N]
- NSF [1754798]
- United Kingdom (UK) Medical Research Council [G0701498, MR/L010666/1]
- UK Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Council [BB/N001230/1]
- Motor Neurone Disease Association [Hirth/Nov15/914-793, Hirth/Oct13/6202, Hirth/Mar12/6085, Hirth/Oct07/6233]
- BBSRC [BB/N001230/1] Funding Source: UKRI
- MRC [G0701498, MR/L010666/1] Funding Source: UKRI
- Direct For Biological Sciences
- Division Of Integrative Organismal Systems [1754798] Funding Source: National Science Foundation
Ask authors/readers for more resources
Corresponding attributes of neural development and function suggest arthropod and vertebrate brains may have an evolutionarily conserved organization. However, the underlying mechanisms have remained elusive. Here, we identify a gene regulatory and character identity network defining the deutocerebraltritocerebral boundary (DTB) in Drosophila. This network comprises genes homologous to those directing midbrain-hindbrain boundary (MHB) formation in vertebrates and their closest chordate relatives. Genetic tracing reveals that the embryonic DTB gives rise to adult midbrain circuits that in flies control auditory and vestibular information processing and motor coordination, as do MHB-derived circuits in vertebrates. DTB-specific gene expression and function are directed by cis-regulatory elements of developmental control genes that include homologs of mammalian Zinc finger of the cerebellum and Purkinje cell protein 4. Drosophila DTB-specific cis-regulatory elements correspond to regulatory sequences of human ENGRAILED-2, PAX-2, and DACHSHUND-1 that direct MHB-specific expression in the embryonic mouse brain. We show that cis-regulatory elements and the gene networks they regulate direct the formation and function of midbrain circuits for balance and motor coordination in insects and mammals. Regulatory mechanisms mediating the genetic specification of cephalic neural circuits in arthropods correspond to those in chordates, thereby implying their origin before the divergence of deuterostomes and ecdysozoans.
Authors
I am an author on this paper
Click your name to claim this paper and add it to your profile.
Reviews
Recommended
No Data Available