論文

査読有り 国際誌
2020年8月26日

Neuronal Circuits That Control Rhythmic Pectoral Fin Movements in Zebrafish

The Journal of Neuroscience
  • Yuto Uemura
  • ,
  • Kagayaki Kato
  • ,
  • Koichi Kawakami
  • ,
  • Yukiko Kimura
  • ,
  • Yoichi Oda
  • ,
  • Shin-ichi Higashijima

40
35
開始ページ
6678
終了ページ
6690
記述言語
英語
掲載種別
研究論文(学術雑誌)
DOI
10.1523/jneurosci.1484-20.2020
出版者・発行元
Society for Neuroscience

The most basic form of locomotion in limbed vertebrates consists of alternating activities of the flexor and extensor muscles within each limb coupled with left/right limb alternation. Although larval zebrafish are not limbed, their pectoral fin movements exhibit the following fundamental aspects of this basic movement: abductor/adductor alternation (corresponding to flexor/extensor alternation) and left/right fin alternation. Because of the simplicity of their movements and the compact neural organization of their spinal cords, zebrafish can serve as a good model to identify the neuronal networks of the central pattern generator (CPG) that controls rhythmic appendage movements. Here, we set out to investigate neuronal circuits underlying rhythmic pectoral fin movements in larval zebrafish, using transgenic fish that specifically express GFP in abductor or adductor motor neurons (MNs) and candidate CPG neurons. First, we showed that spiking activities of abductor and adductor MNs were essentially alternating. Second, both abductor and adductor MNs received rhythmic excitatory and inhibitory synaptic inputs in their active and inactive phases, respectively, indicating that the MN spiking activities are controlled in a push-pull manner. Further, we obtained the following evidence that dmrt3a-expressing commissural inhibitory neurons are involved in regulating the activities of abductor MNs: (1) strong inhibitory synaptic connections were found from dmrt3a neurons to abductor MNs; and (2) ablation of dmrt3a neurons shifted the spike timing of abductor MNs. Thus, in this simple system of abductor/adductor alternation, the last-order inhibitory inputs originating from the contralaterally located neurons play an important role in controlling the firing timings of MNs.SIGNIFICANCE STATEMENT Pectoral fin movements in larval zebrafish exhibit fundamental aspects of basic rhythmic appendage movement: alternation of the abductor and adductor (corresponding to flexor-extensor alternation) coupled with left-right alternation. We set out to investigate the neuronal circuits underlying rhythmic pectoral fin movements in larval zebrafish. We showed that both abductor and adductor MNs received rhythmic excitatory and inhibitory synaptic inputs in their active and inactive phases, respectively. This indicates that MN activities are controlled in a push-pull manner. We further obtained evidence that dmrt3a-expressing commissural inhibitory neurons exert an inhibitory effect on abductor MNs. The current study marks the first step toward the identification of central pattern generator organization for rhythmic fin movements.

リンク情報
DOI
https://doi.org/10.1523/jneurosci.1484-20.2020
PubMed
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/32703904
PubMed Central
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC7455221
URL
https://syndication.highwire.org/content/doi/10.1523/JNEUROSCI.1484-20.2020
ID情報
  • DOI : 10.1523/jneurosci.1484-20.2020
  • ISSN : 0270-6474
  • eISSN : 1529-2401
  • PubMed ID : 32703904
  • PubMed Central 記事ID : PMC7455221

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