Understanding the neural basis of natural intelligence.

Understanding the neural basis of natural intelligence necessitates a paradigm shift: from strict reductionism toward embracing complexity and diversity. New tools and theories enable us to tackle this challenge, providing unprecedented access to neural dynamics and behavior across time, contexts, and species. Principles for intelligent behavior and learning in the natural world are now, more than ever, within reach.

Translocated microbiome composition determines immunological outcome in treated HIV infection.

The impact of the microbiome on HIV disease is widely acknowledged although the mechanisms downstream of fluctuations in microbial composition remain speculative. We detected rapid, dynamic changes in translocated microbial constituents during two years after cART initiation. An unbiased systems biology approach revealed two distinct pathways driven by changes in the abundance ratio of Serratia to other bacterial genera. Increased CD4 T cell numbers over the first year were associated with high Serratia abundance, pro-inflammatory innate cytokines, and metabolites that drive Th17 gene expression signatures and restoration of mucosal integrity. Subsequently, decreased Serratia abundance and downregulation of innate cytokines allowed re-establishment of systemic T cell homeostasis promoting restoration of Th1 and Th2 gene expression signatures. Analyses of three other geographically distinct cohorts of treated HIV infection established a more generalized principle that changes in diversity and composition of translocated microbial species influence systemic inflammation and consequently CD4 T cell recovery.

Generation of nanoscopic membrane curvature for membrane trafficking.

Curved membranes are key features of intracellular organelles, and their generation involves dynamic protein complexes. Here we describe the fundamental mechanisms such as the hydrophobic insertion, scaffolding and crowding mechanisms these proteins use to produce membrane curvatures and complex shapes required to form intracellular organelles and vesicular structures involved in endocytosis and secretion. For each mechanism, we discuss its cellular functions as well as the underlying physical principles and the specific membrane properties required for the mechanism to be feasible. We propose that the integration of individual mechanisms into a highly controlled, robust process of curvature generation often relies on the assembly of proteins into coats. How cells unify and organize the curvature-generating factors at the nanoscale is presented for three ubiquitous coats central for membrane trafficking in eukaryotes: clathrin-coated pits, caveolae, and COPI and COPII coats. The emerging theme is that these coats arrange and coordinate curvature-generating factors in time and space to dynamically shape membranes to accomplish membrane trafficking within cells.

Correlated Neural Activity across the Brains of Socially Interacting Bats.

Social interactions occur between multiple individuals, but what is the detailed relationship between the neural dynamics across their brains? To address this question across timescales and levels of neural activity, we used wireless electrophysiology to simultaneously record from pairs of bats engaged in a wide range of natural social interactions. We found that neural activity was remarkably correlated between their brains over timescales from seconds to hours. The correlation depended on a shared social environment and was most prominent in high frequency local field potentials (>30 Hz), followed by local spiking activity. Furthermore, the degree of neural correlation covaried with the extent of social interactions, and an increase in correlation preceded their initiation. These results show that inter-brain correlation is an inherent feature of natural social interactions, reveal the domain of neural activity where it is most prominent, and provide a foundation for studying its functional role in social behaviors.

A Thalamic Circuit Lights up Mood.

The contributions of areas downstream of retinal ganglion cells involved in the processing and regulation of mood remain largely unspecified. In this issue of Cell, Fernandez et al. (2018) identify a thalamic circuit within the perihabenular region (pHb) linking daily changes of light pattern to mood regulation.

Nonoscillatory Phase Coding and Synchronization in the Bat Hippocampal Formation.

Hippocampal theta oscillations were proposed to be important for multiple functions, including memory and temporal coding of position. However, previous findings from bats have questioned these proposals by reporting absence of theta rhythmicity in bat hippocampal formation. Does this mean that temporal coding is unique to rodent hippocampus and does not generalize to other species? Here, we report that, surprisingly, bat hippocampal neurons do exhibit temporal coding similar to rodents, albeit without any continuous oscillations at the 1-20 Hz range. Bat neurons exhibited very strong locking to the non-rhythmic fluctuations of the field potential, such that neurons were synchronized together despite the absence of oscillations. Further, some neurons exhibited "phase precession" and phase coding of the bat's position-with spike phases shifting earlier as the animal moved through the place field. This demonstrates an unexpected type of neural coding in the mammalian brain-nonoscillatory phase coding-and highlights the importance of synchrony and temporal coding for hippocampal function across species.

Tumor Evolution and Drug Response in Patient-Derived Organoid Models of Bladder Cancer.

Bladder cancer is the fifth most prevalent cancer in the U.S., yet is understudied, and few laboratory models exist that reflect the biology of the human disease. Here, we describe a biobank of patient-derived organoid lines that recapitulates the histopathological and molecular diversity of human bladder cancer. Organoid lines can be established efficiently from patient biopsies acquired before and after disease recurrence and are interconvertible with orthotopic xenografts. Notably, organoid lines often retain parental tumor heterogeneity and exhibit a spectrum of genomic changes that are consistent with tumor evolution in culture. Analyses of drug response using bladder tumor organoids show partial correlations with mutational profiles, as well as changes associated with treatment resistance, and specific responses can be validated using xenografts in vivo. Our studies indicate that patient-derived bladder tumor organoids represent a faithful model system for studying tumor evolution and treatment response in the context of precision cancer medicine.

Endogenous oxidized phospholipids reprogram cellular metabolism and boost hyperinflammation.

Pathogen-associated molecular patterns (PAMPs) have the capacity to couple inflammatory gene expression to changes in macrophage metabolism, both of which influence subsequent inflammatory activities. Similar to their microbial counterparts, several self-encoded damage-associated molecular patterns (DAMPs) induce inflammatory gene expression. However, whether this symmetry in host responses between PAMPs and DAMPs extends to metabolic shifts is unclear. Here, we report that the self-encoded oxidized phospholipid oxPAPC alters the metabolism of macrophages exposed to lipopolysaccharide. While cells activated by lipopolysaccharide rely exclusively on glycolysis, macrophages exposed to oxPAPC also use mitochondrial respiration, feed the Krebs cycle with glutamine, and favor the accumulation of oxaloacetate in the cytoplasm. This metabolite potentiates interleukin-1ß production, resulting in hyperinflammation. Similar metabolic adaptions occur in vivo in hypercholesterolemic mice and human subjects. Drugs that interfere with oxPAPC-driven metabolic changes reduce atherosclerotic plaque formation in mice, thereby underscoring the importance of DAMP-mediated activities in pathophysiological conditions.

MYC acetylated lysine residues drive oncogenic cell transformation and regulate select genetic programs for cell adhesion-independent growth and survival.

The MYC oncogenic transcription factor is acetylated by the p300 and GCN5 histone acetyltransferases. The significance of MYC acetylation and the functions of specific acetylated lysine (AcK) residues have remained unclear. Here, we show that the major p300-acetylated K148(149) and K157(158) sites in human (or mouse) MYC and the main GCN5-acetylated K323 residue are reversibly acetylated in various malignant and nonmalignant cells. Oncogenic overexpression of MYC enhances its acetylation and alters the regulation of site-specific acetylation by proteasome and deacetylase inhibitors. Acetylation of MYC at different K residues differentially affects its stability in a cell type-dependent manner. Lysine-to-arginine substitutions indicate that although none of the AcK residues is required for MYC stimulation of adherent cell proliferation, individual AcK sites have gene-specific functions controlling select MYC-regulated processes in cell adhesion, contact inhibition, apoptosis, and/or metabolism and are required for the malignant cell transformation activity of MYC. Each AcK site is required for anchorage-independent growth of MYC-overexpressing cells in vitro, and both the AcK148(149) and AcK157(158) residues are also important for the tumorigenic activity of MYC transformed cells in vivo. The MYC AcK site-specific signaling pathways identified may offer new avenues for selective therapeutic targeting of MYC oncogenic activities.

Identification of causal genetic drivers of human disease through systems-level analysis of regulatory networks.

Identification of driver mutations in human diseases is often limited by cohort size and availability of appropriate statistical models. We propose a framework for the systematic discovery of genetic alterations that are causal determinants of disease, by prioritizing genes upstream of functional disease drivers, within regulatory networks inferred de novo from experimental data. We tested this framework by identifying the genetic determinants of the mesenchymal subtype of glioblastoma. Our analysis uncovered KLHL9 deletions as upstream activators of two previously established master regulators of the subtype, C/EBPß and C/EBPδ. Rescue of KLHL9 expression induced proteasomal degradation of C/EBP proteins, abrogated the mesenchymal signature, and reduced tumor viability in vitro and in vivo. Deletions of KLHL9 were confirmed in > 50% of mesenchymal cases in an independent cohort, thus representing the most frequent genetic determinant of the subtype. The method generalized to study other human diseases, including breast cancer and Alzheimer's disease.

State-dependent architecture of thalamic reticular subnetworks.

Behavioral state is known to influence interactions between thalamus and cortex, which are important for sensation, action, and cognition. The thalamic reticular nucleus (TRN) is hypothesized to regulate thalamo-cortical interactions, but the underlying functional architecture of this process and its state dependence are unknown. By combining the first TRN ensemble recording with psychophysics and connectivity-based optogenetic tagging, we found reticular circuits to be composed of distinct subnetworks. While activity of limbic-projecting TRN neurons positively correlates with arousal, sensory-projecting neurons participate in spindles and show elevated synchrony by slow waves during sleep. Sensory-projecting neurons are suppressed by attentional states, demonstrating that their gating of thalamo-cortical interactions is matched to behavioral state. Bidirectional manipulation of attentional performance was achieved through subnetwork-specific optogenetic stimulation. Together, our findings provide evidence for differential inhibition of thalamic nuclei across brain states, where the TRN separately controls external sensory and internal limbic processing facilitating normal cognitive function. PAPERFLICK:

Hippocampal representation during collective spatial behaviour in bats.

Social animals live and move through spaces shaped by the presence, motion and sensory cues of multiple other individuals1-6. Neural activity in the hippocampus is known to reflect spatial behaviour7-9 yet its study is lacking in such dynamic group settings, which are ubiquitous in natural environments. Here we studied hippocampal activity in groups of bats engaged in collective spatial behaviour. We find that, under spontaneous conditions, a robust spatial structure emerges at the group level whereby behaviour is anchored to specific locations, movement patterns and individual social preferences. Using wireless electrophysiological recordings from both stationary and flying bats, we find that many hippocampal neurons are tuned to key features of group dynamics. These include the presence or absence of a conspecific, but not typically of an object, at landing sites, shared spatial locations, individual identities and sensory signals that are broadcasted in the group setting. Finally, using wireless calcium imaging, we find that social responses are anatomically distributed and robustly represented at the population level. Combined, our findings reveal that hippocampal activity contains a rich representation of naturally emerging spatial behaviours in animal groups that could in turn support the complex feat of collective behaviour.

Ubiquitination regulates ER-phagy and remodelling of endoplasmic reticulum.

The endoplasmic reticulum (ER) undergoes continuous remodelling via a selective autophagy pathway, known as ER-phagy1. ER-phagy receptors have a central role in this process2, but the regulatory mechanism remains largely unknown. Here we report that ubiquitination of the ER-phagy receptor FAM134B within its reticulon homology domain (RHD) promotes receptor clustering and binding to lipidated LC3B, thereby stimulating ER-phagy. Molecular dynamics (MD) simulations showed how ubiquitination perturbs the RHD structure in model bilayers and enhances membrane curvature induction. Ubiquitin molecules on RHDs mediate interactions between neighbouring RHDs to form dense receptor clusters that facilitate the large-scale remodelling of lipid bilayers. Membrane remodelling was reconstituted in vitro with liposomes and ubiquitinated FAM134B. Using super-resolution microscopy, we discovered FAM134B nanoclusters and microclusters in cells. Quantitative image analysis revealed a ubiquitin-mediated increase in FAM134B oligomerization and cluster size. We found that the E3 ligase AMFR, within multimeric ER-phagy receptor clusters, catalyses FAM134B ubiquitination and regulates the dynamic flux of ER-phagy. Our results show that ubiquitination enhances RHD functions via receptor clustering, facilitates ER-phagy and controls ER remodelling in response to cellular demands.

Heteromeric clusters of ubiquitinated ER-shaping proteins drive ER-phagy.

Membrane-shaping proteins characterized by reticulon homology domains play an important part in the dynamic remodelling of the endoplasmic reticulum (ER). An example of such a protein is FAM134B, which can bind LC3 proteins and mediate the degradation of ER sheets through selective autophagy (ER-phagy)1. Mutations in FAM134B result in a neurodegenerative disorder in humans that mainly affects sensory and autonomic neurons2. Here we report that ARL6IP1, another ER-shaping protein that contains a reticulon homology domain and is associated with sensory loss3, interacts with FAM134B and participates in the formation of heteromeric multi-protein clusters required for ER-phagy. Moreover, ubiquitination of ARL6IP1 promotes this process. Accordingly, disruption of Arl6ip1 in mice causes an expansion of ER sheets in sensory neurons that degenerate over time. Primary cells obtained from Arl6ip1-deficient mice or from patients display incomplete budding of ER membranes and severe impairment of ER-phagy flux. Therefore, we propose that the clustering of ubiquitinated ER-shaping proteins facilitates the dynamic remodelling of the ER during ER-phagy and is important for neuronal maintenance.

Structure of the Arabidopsis thaliana glutamate receptor-like channel GLR3.4.

Glutamate receptor-like channels (GLRs) play vital roles in various physiological processes in plants, such as wound response, stomatal aperture control, seed germination, root development, innate immune response, pollen tube growth, and morphogenesis. Despite the importance of GLRs, knowledge about their molecular organization is limited. Here we use X-ray crystallography and single-particle cryo-EM to solve structures of the Arabidopsis thaliana GLR3.4. Our structures reveal the tetrameric assembly of GLR3.4 subunits into a three-layer domain architecture, reminiscent of animal ionotropic glutamate receptors (iGluRs). However, the non-swapped arrangement between layers of GLR3.4 domains, binding of glutathione through S-glutathionylation of cysteine C205 inside the amino-terminal domain clamshell, unique symmetry, inter-domain interfaces, and ligand specificity distinguish GLR3.4 from representatives of the iGluR family and suggest distinct features of the GLR gating mechanism. Our work elaborates on the principles of GLR architecture and symmetry and provides a molecular template for deciphering GLR-dependent signaling mechanisms in plants.

Stacked endoplasmic reticulum sheets are connected by helicoidal membrane motifs.

The endoplasmic reticulum (ER) often forms stacked membrane sheets, an arrangement that is likely required to accommodate a maximum of membrane-bound polysomes for secretory protein synthesis. How sheets are stacked is unknown. Here, we used improved staining and automated ultrathin sectioning electron microscopy methods to analyze stacked ER sheets in neuronal cells and secretory salivary gland cells of mice. Our results show that stacked ER sheets form a continuous membrane system in which the sheets are connected by twisted membrane surfaces with helical edges of left- or right-handedness. The three-dimensional structure of tightly stacked ER sheets resembles a parking garage, in which the different levels are connected by helicoidal ramps. A theoretical model explains the experimental observations and indicates that the structure corresponds to a minimum of elastic energy of sheet edges and surfaces. The structure allows the dense packing of ER sheets in the restricted space of a cell.

A stable hippocampal code in freely flying bats.

Neural activity in the hippocampus is known to reflect how animals move through an environment1,2. Although navigational behaviour may show considerable stability3-6, the tuning stability of individual hippocampal neurons remains unclear7-12. Here we used wireless calcium imaging to longitudinally monitor the activity of dorsal CA1 hippocampal neurons in freely flying bats performing highly reproducible flights in a familiar environment. We find that both the participation and the spatial selectivity of most neurons remain stable over days and weeks. We also find that apparent changes in tuning can be largely attributed to variations in the flight behaviour of the bats. Finally, we show that bats navigating in the same environment under different room lighting conditions (lights on versus lights off) exhibit substantial changes in flight behaviour that can give the illusion of neuronal instability. However, when similar flight paths are compared across conditions, the stability of the hippocampal code persists. Taken together, we show that the underlying hippocampal code is highly stable over days and across contexts if behaviour is taken into account.

Self-regulated non-reciprocal motions in single-material microstructures.

Living cilia stir, sweep and steer via swirling strokes of complex bending and twisting, paired with distinct reverse arcs1,2. Efforts to mimic such dynamics synthetically rely on multimaterial designs but face limits to programming arbitrary motions or diverse behaviours in one structure3-8. Here we show how diverse, complex, non-reciprocal, stroke-like trajectories emerge in a single-material system through self-regulation. When a micropost composed of photoresponsive liquid crystal elastomer with mesogens aligned oblique to the structure axis is exposed to a static light source, dynamic dances evolve as light initiates a travelling order-to-disorder transition front, transiently turning the structure into a complex evolving bimorph that twists and bends via multilevel opto-chemo-mechanical feedback. As captured by our theoretical model, the travelling front continuously reorients the molecular, geometric and illumination axes relative to each other, yielding pathways composed from series of twisting, bending, photophobic and phototropic motions. Guided by the model, here we choreograph a wide range of trajectories by tailoring parameters, including illumination angle, light intensity, molecular anisotropy, microstructure geometry, temperature and irradiation intervals and duration. We further show how this opto-chemo-mechanical self-regulation serves as a foundation for creating self-organizing deformation patterns in closely spaced microstructure arrays via light-mediated interpost communication, as well as complex motions of jointed microstructures, with broad implications for autonomous multimodal actuators in areas such as soft robotics7,9,10, biomedical devices11,12 and energy transduction materials13, and for fundamental understanding of self-regulated systems14,15.

Lightning Pose: improved animal pose estimation via semi-supervised learning, Bayesian ensembling and cloud-native open-source tools.

Contemporary pose estimation methods enable precise measurements of behavior via supervised deep learning with hand-labeled video frames. Although effective in many cases, the supervised approach requires extensive labeling and often produces outputs that are unreliable for downstream analyses. Here, we introduce 'Lightning Pose', an efficient pose estimation package with three algorithmic contributions. First, in addition to training on a few labeled video frames, we use many unlabeled videos and penalize the network whenever its predictions violate motion continuity, multiple-view geometry and posture plausibility (semi-supervised learning). Second, we introduce a network architecture that resolves occlusions by predicting pose on any given frame using surrounding unlabeled frames. Third, we refine the pose predictions post hoc by combining ensembling and Kalman smoothing. Together, these components render pose trajectories more accurate and scientifically usable. We released a cloud application that allows users to label data, train networks and process new videos directly from the browser.