PUBLICATION

Early glycinergic axon contact with the Mauthner neuron during zebrafish development

Authors
Moly, P.K., and Hatta, K.
ID
ZDB-PUB-110328-2
Date
2011
Source
Journal of neuroscience research   70(3): 251-259 (Journal)
Registered Authors
Hatta, Kohei
Keywords
McCoLA; Hindbrain; Spinal cord; Inhibition; Vertebrate
MeSH Terms
  • Animals
  • Animals, Genetically Modified
  • Axons/physiology
  • Axons/ultrastructure*
  • Glycine/physiology*
  • Glycine Plasma Membrane Transport Proteins/biosynthesis
  • Glycine Plasma Membrane Transport Proteins/genetics*
  • Glycine Plasma Membrane Transport Proteins/physiology
  • Green Fluorescent Proteins/biosynthesis
  • Green Fluorescent Proteins/genetics
  • Neural Pathways/embryology
  • Neural Pathways/physiology
  • Neurons/cytology*
  • Neurons/physiology
  • Promoter Regions, Genetic/physiology
  • Rhombencephalon/embryology*
  • Rhombencephalon/physiology
  • Spinal Cord/embryology*
  • Spinal Cord/physiology
  • Transgenes/physiology
  • Zebrafish
PubMed
21397641 Full text @ J. Neurosci. Res.
Abstract
Glycinergic neurons are the major inhibitory neurons in the vertebrate central nervous system. In teleosts, they play an important role in the escape response by regulating the activity of the Mauthner (M-) cells. Here we studied the contact between glycinergic axons and M-cells in early zebrafish embryos by double immunostaining with an anti-glycine antibody and the 3A10 antibody that labels M-cells. We also studied a transgenic line, Tg(GlyT2:GFP), in which GFP is expressed under the control of the promoter for the glycine transporter-2 gene. The initial contacts by ascending glycinergic axons on the M-cell were observed within 27h post-fertilization (hpf) on the lateral part of the ventral surface of the M-soma. Stochastic labeling of glycinergic neurons was then performed by injecting a GlyT2:GFP construct into early cleaving eggs. We identified the origin of the earliest glycinergic axons that contact the M-soma as commissural neurons, located in the anterior spinal cord, whose axons ascend along the lateral longitudinal fascicles with a short descending branch. We also found, in the fourth rhombomere, late-developed glycinergic commissural neurons whose axons contact anterior or posterior edge of both M-cells. This study provides the first example of the initial development of an inhibitory network on an identifiable neuron in vertebrates.
Genes / Markers
Figures
Expression
Phenotype
Mutations / Transgenics
Human Disease / Model
Sequence Targeting Reagents
Fish
Antibodies
Orthology
Engineered Foreign Genes
Mapping