Integrins Have Cell-Type-Specific Roles in the Development of Motor Neuron Connectivity
Oliver, Devyn ; Norman, Emily ; Bates, Heather ; Avard, Rachel ; Rettler, Monika ; Benard, Claire Y. ; Francis, Michael M. ; Lemons, Michele L.
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Abstract
Formation of the nervous system requires a complex series of events including proper extension and guidance of neuronal axons and dendrites. Here we investigate the requirement for integrins, a class of transmembrane cell adhesion receptors, in regulating these processes across classes of C. elegans motor neurons. We show alpha integrin/ina-1 is expressed by both GABAergic and cholinergic motor neurons. Despite this, our analysis of hypomorphic ina-1(gm144) mutants indicates preferential involvement of alpha integrin/ina-1 in GABAergic commissural development, without obvious involvement in cholinergic commissural development. The defects in GABAergic commissures of ina-1(gm144) mutants included both premature termination and guidance errors and were reversed by expression of wild type ina-1 under control of the native ina-1 promoter. Our results also show that alpha integrin/ina-1 is important for proper outgrowth and guidance of commissures from both embryonic and post-embryonic born GABAergic motor neurons, indicating an ongoing requirement for integrin through two phases of GABAergic neuron development. Our findings provide insights into neuron-specific roles for integrin that would not be predicted based solely upon expression analysis.
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J Dev Biol. 2019 Aug 27;7(3). pii: jdb7030017. doi: 10.3390/jdb7030017. Link to article on publisher's site