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A Cyfip2-Dependent Excitatory Interneuron Pathway Establishes the Innate Startle Threshold.
Kurt C Marsden1, Roshan A Jain2, Marc A Wolman3
1Department of Cell and Developmental Biology, University of Pennsylvania Perelman School of Medicine, 1157 BRB II/III, 421 Curie Blvd., Philadelphia, PA 19104, USA; Department of Biological Sciences, W.M. Keck Center for Behavioral Biology, North Carolina State University, 127 David Clark Labs, 100 Brooks Ave., Raleigh, NC 27607, USA.
Cell Reports
|April 19, 2018
Summary
Researchers discovered how the cyfip2 gene establishes the innate startle response threshold in zebrafish. This protein regulates neural activity in the hindbrain, crucial for innate behaviors.
Area of Science:
- Neuroscience
- Genetics
- Behavioral Biology
Background:
- Innate behavioral thresholds determine animal responses to stimuli.
- Mechanisms establishing these thresholds remain largely unknown.
Purpose of the Study:
- Identify molecular and circuit mechanisms of the zebrafish innate startle response threshold.
- Investigate the role of cyfip2 in establishing innate behavioral thresholds.
Main Methods:
- Forward genetic screen in zebrafish.
- Whole-genome sequencing to identify causative mutations.
- Analysis of cyfip2 function and its effect on neural activity.
Main Results:
- Isolated five mutant lines with reduced startle thresholds.
- Identified cyfip2 mutation in one line.
- Demonstrated cyfip2 regulates the startle threshold by reducing hindbrain interneuron activity.
- Showed cyfip2 acts independently of FMRP.
Conclusions:
- cyfip2 is critical for establishing innate behavioral thresholds.
- cyfip2 acts in excitatory hindbrain interneurons to regulate the startle response.
- Identified key genes and neural circuits underlying innate behaviors.
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