期刊
CURRENT BIOLOGY
卷 25, 期 16, 页码 2075-2089出版社
CELL PRESS
DOI: 10.1016/j.cub.2015.06.052
关键词
-
资金
- National Science Foundation
- NIH [GM24663]
Neural circuits have long been known to modulate myogenic muscles such as the heart, yet a mechanistic understanding at the cellular and molecular levels remains limited. We studied how light inhibits pumping of the Caenorhabditis elegans pharynx, a myogenic muscular pump for feeding, and found three neural circuits that alter pumping. First, light inhibits pumping via the 12 neuron monosynaptic circuit. Our electron microscopic reconstruction of the anterior pharynx revealed evidence for synapses from 12 onto muscle that were missing from the published connectome, and we show that these missed synapses are likely functional. Second, light inhibits pumping through the RIP-I1-MC neuron polysynaptic circuit, in which an inhibitory signal is likely transmitted from outside the pharynx into the pharynx in a manner analogous to how the mammalian autonomic nervous system controls the heart. Third, light causes a novel pharyngeal behavior, reversal of flow or spitting, which is induced by the M-1 neuron. These three neural circuits show that neurons can control a myogenic muscle organ not only by changing the contraction rate but also by altering the functional consequences of the contraction itself, transforming swallowing into spitting. Our observations also illustrate why connectome builders and users should be cognizant that functional synaptic connections might exist despite the absence of a declared synapse in the connectome.
作者
我是这篇论文的作者
点击您的名字以认领此论文并将其添加到您的个人资料中。
推荐
暂无数据