全脑神经元鉴定的多色图谱

全面解析全脑图像中的神经元身份是一项重大挑战。

研究人员通过设计一种称为NeuroPAL（神经元多色图谱）的多色转基因技术，并在秀丽隐杆线虫中实现了这一目标。NeuroPAL线虫在整个雌雄同体的神经系统中共享一个固定的多色荧光图谱，从而可解析所有的神经元身份。标记有NeuroPAL的神经元在绿色、青色或黄色发射通道中不发射荧光，从而使这个转基因可与基因表达或神经元动力学的许多已报道分子一起使用。

研究人员利用NeuroPAL进行了神经系统范围内神经元鉴定的三种应用。首先，研究人员确定了乙酰胆碱、GABA和谷氨酸的所有代谢型受体的全脑表达模式，从而完成了该交流网络的图谱。其次，研究人员发现了转录因子突变引起的细胞命运变化。第三，研究人员记录了响应吸引和排斥化学感觉线索时的全脑活动，从而表征这些刺激的多模式编码。

附：英文原文

Title: NeuroPAL: A Multicolor Atlas for Whole-Brain Neuronal Identification in C. elegans

Author: Eviatar Yemini, Albert Lin, Amin Nejatbakhsh, Erdem Varol, Ruoxi Sun, Gonzalo E. Mena, Aravinthan D.T. Samuel, Liam Paninski, Vivek Venkatachalam, Oliver Hobert

Issue&Volume: 2020-12-29

Abstract: Comprehensively resolving neuronal identities in whole-brain images is a major challenge.We achieve this in C. elegans by engineering a multicolor transgene called NeuroPAL (a neuronal polychromatic atlasof landmarks). NeuroPAL worms share a stereotypical multicolor fluorescence map forthe entire hermaphrodite nervous system that resolves all neuronal identities. Neuronslabeled with NeuroPAL do not exhibit fluorescence in the green, cyan, or yellow emissionchannels, allowing the transgene to be used with numerous reporters of gene expressionor neuronal dynamics. We showcase three applications that leverage NeuroPAL for nervous-system-wideneuronal identification. First, we determine the brainwide expression patterns ofall metabotropic receptors for acetylcholine, GABA, and glutamate, completing a mapof this communication network. Second, we uncover changes in cell fate caused by transcriptionfactor mutations. Third, we record brainwide activity in response to attractive andrepulsive chemosensory cues, characterizing multimodal coding for these stimuli.

DOI: 10.1016/j.cell.2020.12.012

Source: https://www.cell.com/cell/fulltext/S0092-8674(20)31682-2