Sites of Circadian Clock Neuron Plasticity Mediate Sensory Integration and Entrainment

Authors

Maria P. Fernand, CUNY Graduate CenterFollow
Hannah L. Pettibone, CUNY Graduate Center
Joseph T. Bogart, CUNY Graduate Center
Casey J. Roell, University of Michigan-Ann Arbor
Charles E. Davey, University of Michigan-Ann Arbor
Ausra Pranevicius, Barnard College
Khang V. Huynh, University of Michigan-Ann Arbor
Sara M. Lennox, University of Michigan-Ann Arbor
Boyan Kostadinov, CUNY New York City College of TechnologyFollow
Orie T. Shafer, CUNY Graduate CenterFollow

Document Type

Article

Publication Date

6-22-2021

Abstract

Networks of circadian timekeeping in the brain display marked daily changes in neuronal morphology. In Drosophila melanogaster, the striking daily structural remodeling of the dorsal medial termini of the small ventral lateral neurons has long been hypothesized to mediate endogenous circadian timekeeping. To test this model, we have specifically abrogated these sites of daily neuronal remodeling through the reprogramming of neural development and assessed the effects on circadian timekeeping and clock outputs. Remarkably, the loss of these sites has no measurable effects on endogenous circadian timekeeping or on any of the major output functions of the small ventral lateral neurons. Rather, their loss reduces sites of glutamatergic sensory neurotransmission that normally encodes naturalistic time cues from the environment. These results support an alternative model: structural plasticity in critical clock neurons is the basis for proper integration of light and temperature and gates sensory inputs into circadian clock neuron networks.

Comments

Fernandez et al., 2020, Current Biology 30, 2225–2237 June 22, 2020. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cub.2020.04.025

Published under a CC-BY-NC-ND 4.0 License.