PUBLICATION

Directional selectivity of afferent neurons in zebrafish neuromasts is regulated by Emx2 in presynaptic hair cells

Authors
Ji, Y.R., Warrier, S., Jiang, T., Wu, D.K., Kindt, K.
ID
ZDB-PUB-180421-7
Date
2018
Source
eLIFE   7: (Journal)
Registered Authors
Kindt, Katie
Keywords
developmental biology, neuroscience, stem cells, zebrafish
MeSH Terms
  • Animals
  • Homeodomain Proteins/metabolism*
  • Lateral Line System/physiology*
  • Mechanoreceptors/physiology*
  • Neurons, Afferent/physiology*
  • Transcription Factors/metabolism*
  • Zebrafish
PubMed
29671737 Full text @ Elife
Abstract
The orientation of hair bundles on top of sensory hair cells (HCs) in neuromasts of the lateral line system allows fish to detect direction of water flow. Each neuromast shows hair bundles arranged in two opposing directions and each afferent neuron only innervate HCs of the same orientation. In previous paper, we show that this opposition is established by expression of Emx2 in half of the HCs, where it mediates hair bundle reversal (Jiang et al. 2017). Here, we show that Emx2 also regulates neuronal selection: afferent neurons innervate either Emx2-positive or negative HCs. In emx2 knockout and gain-of-function neuromasts, all HCs are unidirectional and the innervation patterns and physiological responses of the afferent neurons are dependent on the presence or absence of Emx2. Our results indicate that Emx2 mediates the directional selectivity of neuromasts by two distinct processes: regulating hair bundle orientation in HCs and selecting afferent neuronal targets.
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Human Disease / Model
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