Identification of a neuronal population in the telencephalon essential for fear conditioning in zebrafish.

BACKGROUND: Fear conditioning is a form of learning essential for animal survival and used as a behavioral paradigm to study the mechanisms of learning and memory. In mammals, the amygdala plays a crucial role in fear conditioning. In teleost, the medial zone of the dorsal telencephalon (Dm) has been postulated to be a homolog of the mammalian amygdala by anatomical and ablation studies, showing a role in conditioned avoidance response. However, the neuronal populations required for a conditioned avoidance response via the Dm have not been functionally or genetically defined. RESULTS: We aimed to identify the neuronal population essential for fear conditioning through a genetic approach in zebrafish. First, we performed large-scale gene trap and enhancer trap screens, and created transgenic fish lines that expressed Gal4FF, an engineered version of the Gal4 transcription activator, in specific regions in the brain. We then crossed these Gal4FF-expressing fish with the effector line carrying the botulinum neurotoxin gene downstream of the Gal4 binding sequence UAS, and analyzed the double transgenic fish for active avoidance fear conditioning. We identified 16 transgenic lines with Gal4FF expression in various brain areas showing reduced performance in avoidance responses. Two of them had Gal4 expression in populations of neurons located in subregions of the Dm, which we named 120A-Dm neurons. Inhibition of the 120A-Dm neurons also caused reduced performance in Pavlovian fear conditioning. The 120A-Dm neurons were mostly glutamatergic and had projections to other brain regions, including the hypothalamus and ventral telencephalon. CONCLUSIONS: Herein, we identified a subpopulation of neurons in the zebrafish Dm essential for fear conditioning. We propose that these are functional equivalents of neurons in the mammalian pallial amygdala, mediating the conditioned stimulus-unconditioned stimulus association. Thus, the study establishes a basis for understanding the evolutionary conservation and diversification of functional neural circuits mediating fear conditioning in vertebrates.

Unexpected phenotypic and molecular changes of combined glucocerebrosidase and acid sphingomyelinase deficiency.

Heterozygous variants in GBA1, encoding glucocerebrosidase (GCase), are the most common genetic risk factor for Parkinson's disease (PD). Moreover, sporadic PD patients also have a substantial reduction of GCase activity. Genetic variants of SMPD1 are also overrepresented in PD cohorts, whereas a reduction of its encoded enzyme (acid sphingomyelinase or ASM) activity is linked to an earlier age of PD onset. Despite both converging on the ceramide pathway, how the combined deficiencies of both enzymes might interact to modulate PD has yet to be explored. Therefore, we created a double-knockout (DKO) zebrafish line for both gba1 (or gba) and smpd1 to test for an interaction in vivo, hypothesising an exacerbation of phenotypes in the DKO line compared to those for single mutants. Unexpectedly, DKO zebrafish maintained conventional swimming behaviour and had normalised neuronal gene expression signatures compared to those of single mutants. We further identified rescue of mitochondrial Complexes I and IV in DKO zebrafish. Despite having an unexpected rescue effect, our results confirm ASM as a modifier of GBA1 deficiency in vivo. Our study highlights the need for validating how genetic variants and enzymatic deficiencies may interact in vivo.

A bidirectional network for appetite control in larval zebrafish.

Medial and lateral hypothalamic loci are known to suppress and enhance appetite, respectively, but the dynamics and functional significance of their interaction have yet to be explored. Here we report that, in larval zebrafish, primarily serotonergic neurons of the ventromedial caudal hypothalamus (cH) become increasingly active during food deprivation, whereas activity in the lateral hypothalamus (LH) is reduced. Exposure to food sensory and consummatory cues reverses the activity patterns of these two nuclei, consistent with their representation of opposing internal hunger states. Baseline activity is restored as food-deprived animals return to satiety via voracious feeding. The antagonistic relationship and functional importance of cH and LH activity patterns were confirmed by targeted stimulation and ablation of cH neurons. Collectively, the data allow us to propose a model in which these hypothalamic nuclei regulate different phases of hunger and satiety and coordinate energy balance via antagonistic control of distinct behavioral outputs.

How soon after a meal do you start feeling hungry again? The answer depends on a complex set of processes within the brain that regulate appetite. A key player in these processes is the hypothalamus, a small structure at the base of the brain. The hypothalamus consists of many different subregions, some of which are responsible for increasing or decreasing hunger. Wee, Song et al. now show how two of these subregions interact to regulate appetite and feeding, by studying them in hungry zebrafish larvae. The brains of zebrafish have many features in common with the brains of mammals, but they are smaller and transparent, which makes them easier to study. Wee, Song et al. show that as larvae become hungry, an area called the caudal hypothalamus increases its activity. But when the larvae find food and start feeding, activity in this area falls sharply. It then remains low while the hungry larvae eat as much as possible. Eventually the larvae become full and start eating more slowly. As they do so, the activity of the caudal hypothalamus goes back to normal levels. While this is happening, activity in a different area called the lateral hypothalamus shows the opposite pattern. It has low activity in hungry larvae, which increases when food becomes available and feeding begins. When the larvae finally reduce their rate of feeding, the activity in the lateral hypothalamus drops back down. The authors posit that by inhibiting each other's activity, the caudal and lateral hypothalamus work together to ensure that animals search for food when necessary, but switch to feeding behavior when food becomes available. Serotonin ­ which is produced by the caudal hypothalamus ­ and drugs that act like it have been proposed to suppress appetite, but they have varied and complex effects on food intake and weight gain. By showing that activity in the caudal hypothalamus changes depending on whether food is present, the current findings may provide insights into this complexity. More generally, they show that mapping the circuits that regulate appetite and feeding in simple organisms could help us understand the same processes in humans.

Activation of the hypothalamic feeding centre upon visual prey detection.

The visual system plays a major role in food/prey recognition in diurnal animals, and food intake is regulated by the hypothalamus. However, whether and how visual information about prey is conveyed to the hypothalamic feeding centre is largely unknown. Here we perform real-time imaging of neuronal activity in freely behaving or constrained zebrafish larvae and demonstrate that prey or prey-like visual stimuli activate the hypothalamic feeding centre. Furthermore, we identify prey detector neurons in the pretectal area that project to the hypothalamic feeding centre. Ablation of the pretectum completely abolishes prey capture behaviour and neurotoxin expression in the hypothalamic area also reduces feeding. Taken together, these results suggest that the pretecto-hypothalamic pathway plays a crucial role in conveying visual information to the feeding centre. Thus, this pathway possibly converts visual food detection into feeding motivation in zebrafish.

Compartmentalization within neurites: its mechanisms and implications.

Neurons are morphologically characterized by long processes extending from a cell body. These processes, the dendrites and axon, are major sub-cellular compartments defined by morphological, molecular, and functional differences. However, evidence from vertebrates and invertebrates suggests that, based on molecular distribution, individual axons and dendrites are further divided into distinct compartments; many membrane molecules involved in axon guidance and synapse formation are localized to specific segments of axons or dendrites that share a boundary of localization. In this review, we describe recent progress in understanding the mechanisms of intra-neurite patterning, and discuss its potential roles in the development and function of the nervous system. Each protein employs different ways to achieve compartment-specific localization; some membrane molecules localize via cell-autonomous ability of neurons, while others require extrinsic signals for localization. The underlying regulatory mechanisms include transcriptional regulation, local translation, diffusion barrier, endocytosis, and selective membrane targeting. We propose that intra-neurite compartmentalization could provide platforms for structural and functional diversification of individual neurons.

Intra-axonal patterning: intrinsic compartmentalization of the axonal membrane in Drosophila neurons.

In the developing nervous system, distribution of membrane molecules, particularly axon guidance receptors, is often restricted to specific segments of axons. Such localization of membrane molecules can be important for the formation and function of neural networks; however, how this patterning within axons is achieved remains elusive. Here we show that Drosophila neurons in culture establish intra-axonal patterns in a cell-autonomous manner; several membrane molecules localize to either proximal or distal axon segments without cell-cell contacts. This distinct patterning of membrane proteins is not explained by a simple temporal control of expression, and likely involves spatially controlled vesicular targeting or retrieval. Mobility of transmembrane molecules is restricted at the boundary of intra-axonal segments, indicating that the axonal membrane is compartmentalized by a barrier mechanism. We propose that this intra-axonal compartmentalization is an intrinsic property of Drosophila neurons that provides a basis for the structural and functional development of the nervous system.