Complimentary vertebrate Wac models exhibit phenotypes relevant to DeSanto-Shinawi Syndrome.

Monogenic syndromes are associated with neurodevelopmental changes that result in cognitive impairments, neurobehavioral phenotypes including autism and attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), and seizures. Limited studies and resources are available to make meaningful headway into the underlying molecular mechanisms that result in these symptoms. One such example is DeSanto-Shinawi Syndrome (DESSH), a rare disorder caused by pathogenic variants in the WAC gene. Individuals with DESSH syndrome exhibit a recognizable craniofacial gestalt, developmental delay/intellectual disability, neurobehavioral symptoms that include autism, ADHD, behavioral difficulties and seizures. However, no thorough studies from a vertebrate model exist to understand how these changes occur. To overcome this, we developed both murine and zebrafish Wac/wac deletion mutants and studied whether their phenotypes recapitulate those described in individuals with DESSH syndrome. We show that the two Wac models exhibit craniofacial and behavioral changes, reminiscent of abnormalities found in DESSH syndrome. In addition, each model revealed impacts to GABAergic neurons and further studies showed that the mouse mutants are susceptible to seizures, changes in brain volumes that are different between sexes and relevant behaviors. Finally, we uncovered transcriptional impacts of Wac loss of function that will pave the way for future molecular studies into DESSH. These studies begin to uncover some biological underpinnings of DESSH syndrome and elucidate the biology of Wac, with advantages in each model.

Sequential perturbations to mouse corticogenesis following in utero maternal immune activation.

In utero exposure to maternal immune activation (MIA) is an environmental risk factor for neurodevelopmental and neuropsychiatric disorders. Animal models provide an opportunity to identify mechanisms driving neuropathology associated with MIA. We performed time-course transcriptional profiling of mouse cortical development following induced MIA via poly(I:C) injection at E12.5. MIA-driven transcriptional changes were validated via protein analysis, and parallel perturbations to cortical neuroanatomy were identified via imaging. MIA-induced acute upregulation of genes associated with hypoxia, immune signaling, and angiogenesis, by 6 hr following exposure. This acute response was followed by changes in proliferation, neuronal and glial specification, and cortical lamination that emerged at E14.5 and peaked at E17.5. Decreased numbers of proliferative cells in germinal zones and alterations in neuronal and glial populations were identified in the MIA-exposed cortex. Overall, paired transcriptomic and neuroanatomical characterization revealed a sequence of perturbations to corticogenesis driven by mid-gestational MIA.

Parallel functional testing identifies enhancers active in early postnatal mouse brain.

Enhancers are cis-regulatory elements that play critical regulatory roles in modulating developmental transcription programs and driving cell-type-specific and context-dependent gene expression in the brain. The development of massively parallel reporter assays (MPRAs) has enabled high-throughput functional screening of candidate DNA sequences for enhancer activity. Tissue-specific screening of in vivo enhancer function at scale has the potential to greatly expand our understanding of the role of non-coding sequences in development, evolution, and disease. Here, we adapted a self-transcribing regulatory element MPRA strategy for delivery to early postnatal mouse brain via recombinant adeno-associated virus (rAAV). We identified and validated putative enhancers capable of driving reporter gene expression in mouse forebrain, including regulatory elements within an intronic CACNA1C linkage disequilibrium block associated with risk in neuropsychiatric disorder genetic studies. Paired screening and single enhancer in vivo functional testing, as we show here, represents a powerful approach towards characterizing regulatory activity of enhancers and understanding how enhancer sequences organize gene expression in the brain.

Nitric oxide acts as a cotransmitter in a subset of dopaminergic neurons to diversify memory dynamics.

Animals employ diverse learning rules and synaptic plasticity dynamics to record temporal and statistical information about the world. However, the molecular mechanisms underlying this diversity are poorly understood. The anatomically defined compartments of the insect mushroom body function as parallel units of associative learning, with different learning rates, memory decay dynamics and flexibility (Aso and Rubin, 2016). Here, we show that nitric oxide (NO) acts as a neurotransmitter in a subset of dopaminergic neurons in Drosophila. NO's effects develop more slowly than those of dopamine and depend on soluble guanylate cyclase in postsynaptic Kenyon cells. NO acts antagonistically to dopamine; it shortens memory retention and facilitates the rapid updating of memories. The interplay of NO and dopamine enables memories stored in local domains along Kenyon cell axons to be specialized for predicting the value of odors based only on recent events. Our results provide key mechanistic insights into how diverse memory dynamics are established in parallel memory systems.

ShinyR-DAM: a program analyzing Drosophila activity, sleep and circadian rhythms.

We developed a web application ShinyR-DAM for analyzing Drosophila locomotor activity, sleep, and circadian rhythms recorded by the Drosophila Activity Monitor (DAM) system (TriKinetics, Waltham, MA). Comparing with the existing programs for DAM data analysis, ShinyR-DAM greatly decreases the complexity and time required to analyze the data, producing informative and customizable plots, summary tables, and data files for statistical analysis. Our program has an intuitive graphical user interface that enables novice users to quickly perform complex analyses.

Dopamine Modulates Serotonin Innervation in the Drosophila Brain.

Parkinson's disease (PD) results from a progressive degeneration of the dopaminergic nigrostriatal system leading to a decline in movement control, with resting tremor, rigidity and postural instability. Several aspects of PD can be modeled in the fruit fly, Drosophila melanogaster, including α-synuclein-induced degeneration of dopaminergic neurons, or dopamine (DA) loss by genetic elimination of neural DA synthesis. Defective behaviors in this latter model can be ameliorated by feeding the DA precursor L-DOPA, analogous to the treatment paradigm for PD. Secondary complication from L-DOPA treatment in PD patients are associated with ectopic synthesis of DA in serotonin (5-HT)-releasing neurons, leading to DA/5-HT imbalance. Here we examined the neuro-anatomical adaptations resulting from imbalanced DA/5-HT signaling in Drosophila mutants lacking neural DA. We find that, similar to rodent models of PD, lack of DA leads to increased 5-HT levels and arborizations in specific brain regions. Conversely, increased DA levels by L-DOPA feeding leads to reduced connectivity of 5-HT neurons to their target neurons in the mushroom body (MB). The observed alterations of 5-HT neuron plasticity indicate that loss of DA signaling is not solely responsible for the behavioral disorders observed in Drosophila models of PD, but rather a combination of the latter with alterations of 5-HT circuitry.

Caffeine promotes wakefulness via dopamine signaling in Drosophila.

Caffeine is the most widely-consumed psychoactive drug in the world, but our understanding of how caffeine affects our brains is relatively incomplete. Most studies focus on effects of caffeine on adenosine receptors, but there is evidence for other, more complex mechanisms. In the fruit fly Drosophila melanogaster, which shows a robust diurnal pattern of sleep/wake activity, caffeine reduces nighttime sleep behavior independently of the one known adenosine receptor. Here, we show that dopamine is required for the wake-promoting effect of caffeine in the fly, and that caffeine likely acts presynaptically to increase dopamine signaling. We identify a cluster of neurons, the paired anterior medial (PAM) cluster of dopaminergic neurons, as the ones relevant for the caffeine response. PAM neurons show increased activity following caffeine administration, and promote wake when activated. Also, inhibition of these neurons abrogates sleep suppression by caffeine. While previous studies have focused on adenosine-receptor mediated mechanisms for caffeine action, we have identified a role for dopaminergic neurons in the arousal-promoting effect of caffeine.