A brainstem circuit amplifies aversion.

Dynamic gain control of aversive signals enables adaptive behavioral responses. Although the role of amygdalar circuits in aversive processing is well established, the neural pathway for amplifying aversion remains elusive. Here, we show that the brainstem circuit linking the interpeduncular nucleus (IPN) with the nucleus incertus (NI) amplifies aversion and promotes avoidant behaviors. IPN GABA neurons are activated by aversive stimuli and their predicting cues, with their response intensity closely tracking aversive values. Activating these neurons does not trigger aversive behavior on its own but rather amplifies responses to aversive stimuli, whereas their ablation or inhibition suppresses such responses. Detailed circuit dissection revealed anatomically distinct subgroups within the IPN GABA neuron population, highlighting the NI-projecting subgroup as the modulator of aversiveness related to fear and opioid withdrawal. These findings unveil the IPN-NI circuit as an aversion amplifier and suggest potential targets for interventions against affective disorders and opioid relapse.

Directed evolution of adeno-associated virus for efficient gene delivery to microglia.

As the resident immune cells in the central nervous system (CNS), microglia orchestrate immune responses and dynamically sculpt neural circuits in the CNS. Microglial dysfunction and mutations of microglia-specific genes have been implicated in many diseases of the CNS. Developing effective and safe vehicles for transgene delivery into microglia will facilitate the studies of microglia biology and microglia-associated disease mechanisms. Here, we report the discovery of adeno-associated virus (AAV) variants that mediate efficient in vitro and in vivo microglial transduction via directed evolution of the AAV capsid protein. These AAV-cMG and AAV-MG variants are capable of delivering various genetic payloads into microglia with high efficiency, and enable sufficient transgene expression to support fluorescent labeling, Ca2+ and neurotransmitter imaging and genome editing in microglia in vivo. Furthermore, single-cell RNA sequencing shows that the AAV-MG variants mediate in vivo transgene delivery without inducing microglia immune activation. These AAV variants should facilitate the use of various genetically encoded sensors and effectors in the study of microglia-related biology.

A novel H129-based anterograde monosynaptic tracer exhibits features of strong labeling intensity, high tracing efficiency, and reduced retrograde labeling.

BACKGROUND: Viral tracers are important tools for mapping brain connectomes. The feature of predominant anterograde transneuronal transmission offers herpes simplex virus-1 (HSV-1) strain H129 (HSV1-H129) as a promising candidate to be developed as anterograde viral tracers. In our earlier studies, we developed H129-derived anterograde polysynaptic tracers and TK deficient (H129-dTK) monosynaptic tracers. However, their broad application is limited by some intrinsic drawbacks of the H129-dTK tracers, such as low labeling intensity due to TK deficiency and potential retrograde labeling caused by axon terminal invasion. The glycoprotein K (gK) of HSV-1 plays important roles in virus entry, egress, and virus-induced cell fusion. Its deficiency severely disables virus egress and spread, while only slightly limits viral genome replication and expression of viral proteins. Therefore, we created a novel H129-derived anterograde monosynaptic tracer (H129-dgK) by targeting gK, which overcomes the limitations of H129-dTK. METHODS: Using our established platform and pipeline for developing viral tracers, we generated a novel tracer by deleting the gK gene from the H129-G4. The gK-deleted virus (H129-dgK-G4) was reconstituted and propagated in the Vero cell expressing wildtype H129 gK (gKwt) or the mutant gK (gKmut, A40V, C82S, M223I, L224V, V309M), respectively. Then the obtained viral tracers of gKmut pseudotyped and gKwt coated H129-dgK-G4 were tested in vitro and in vivo to characterize their tracing properties. RESULTS: H129-dgK-G4 expresses high levels of fluorescent proteins, eliminating the requirement of immunostaining for imaging detection. Compared to the TK deficient monosynaptic tracer H129-dTK-G4, H129-dgK-G4 labeled neurons with 1.76-fold stronger fluorescence intensity, and visualized 2.00-fold more postsynaptic neurons in the downstream brain regions. gKmut pseudotyping leads to a 77% decrease in retrograde labeling by reducing axon terminal invasion, and thus dramatically improves the anterograde-specific tracing of H129-dgK-G4. In addition, assisted by the AAV helper trans-complementarily expressing gKwt, H129-dgK-G4 allows for mapping monosynaptic connections and quantifying the circuit connectivity difference in the Alzheimer's disease and control mouse brains. CONCLUSIONS: gKmut pseudotyped H129-dgK-G4, a novel anterograde monosynaptic tracer, overcomes the limitations of H129-dTK tracers, and demonstrates desirable features of strong labeling intensity, high tracing efficiency, and improved anterograde specificity.

Transcriptomic encoding of sensorimotor transformation in the midbrain.

Sensorimotor transformation, a process that converts sensory stimuli into motor actions, is critical for the brain to initiate behaviors. Although the circuitry involved in sensorimotor transformation has been well delineated, the molecular logic behind this process remains poorly understood. Here, we performed high-throughput and circuit-specific single-cell transcriptomic analyses of neurons in the superior colliculus (SC), a midbrain structure implicated in early sensorimotor transformation. We found that SC neurons in distinct laminae expressed discrete marker genes. Of particular interest, Cbln2 and Pitx2 were key markers that define glutamatergic projection neurons in the optic nerve (Op) and intermediate gray (InG) layers, respectively. The Cbln2+ neurons responded to visual stimuli mimicking cruising predators, while the Pitx2+ neurons encoded prey-derived vibrissal tactile cues. By forming distinct input and output connections with other brain areas, these neuronal subtypes independently mediated behaviors of predator avoidance and prey capture. Our results reveal that, in the midbrain, sensorimotor transformation for different behaviors may be performed by separate circuit modules that are molecularly defined by distinct transcriptomic codes.

The Raphe Dopamine System Controls the Expression of Incentive Memory.

The brain dopamine (DA) system participates in forming and expressing memory. Despite a well-established role of DA neurons in the ventral tegmental area in memory formation, the exact DA circuits that control memory expression remain unclear. Here, we show that DA neurons in the dorsal raphe nucleus (DRN) and their medulla input control the expression of incentive memory. DRN DA neurons are activated by both rewarding and aversive stimuli in a learning-dependent manner and exhibit elevated activity during memory recall. Disrupting their physiological activity or DA synthesis blocks the expression of natural appetitive and aversive memories as well as drug memories associated with opioids. Moreover, a glutamatergic pathway from the lateral parabrachial nucleus to the DRN selectively regulates the expression of reward memories associated with opioids or foods. Our study reveals a specialized DA subsystem important for memory expression and suggests new targets for interventions against opioid addiction.

Cell-type-specific and projection-specific brain-wide reconstruction of single neurons.

We developed a dual-adeno-associated-virus expression system that enables strong and sparse labeling of individual neurons with cell-type and projection specificity. We demonstrated its utility for whole-brain reconstruction of midbrain dopamine neurons and striatum-projecting cortical neurons. We further extended the labeling method for rapid reconstruction in cleared thick brain sections and simultaneous dual-color labeling. This labeling system may facilitate the process of generating mesoscale single-neuron projectomes of mammalian brains.