Dissecting asymmetric habenular neural circuit formation and function in vivo
Final Report Abstract
With the help from the DFG, we have reached several milestones. We developed novel resources and techniques to understand key events and structures during neural circuit development in the zebrafish. This conserved habenular network is established left-right asymmetrically in the vertebrate brain and has been linked to various behaviors and pathophysiological syndromes. On the network level, we could reveal a mechanism underlying axonal extension and targeting by which the correct development of one network is dependent on the interhemispheric flow of information established by a second interconnected neural circuit. This probably frequently used principle in neural circuit development was only now detectable due to our technical advances and resources allowing for long-term imaging of entire brain structures in the living animal over a period of four days. It received attention through a Mannheim University UMM Press release in January 2017: “Sprechende Gehirnhälften: Mannheimer Wissenschaftler entdecken Mechanismus zur Entstehung von Nervennetzen”. On the molecular level, we have accumulated first evidences on a feedback mechanism of Wnt signaling for the crucial temporal regulation of pathway activity during habenular neurogenesis and brain asymmetry. With our ongoing research and the knowledge gained already, we are now working on a set up for introducing defined manipulations into the leftright asymmetric habenular network to study the functional consequences. We believe that this work will continue to have high impact as it covers various fields of research ranging from Cell- , Molecular- and Developmental Biology to Neuroscience and Medicine.
Publications
- (2016). Tracking cells in GFP- transgenic zebrafish using the photoconvertible PSmOrange system. J. Vis. Exp. (108), e53604
Beretta, C.A., Dross, N., Engel, U., and Carl, M.
(See online at https://doi.org/10.3791/53604) - (2017). Early commissural diencephalic neurons control habenular axon extension and targeting. Current Biology, 27:270-278
Beretta, C.A., Dross, N., Guglielmi, L., Bankhead, P., Soulika, M., Gutierrez-Triana, J.A., Paolini, A., Poggi, L., Falk, J., Ryu, S., Kapsimali, M., Engel, U., Carl, M.
(See online at https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cub.2016.11.038)
