Changes in Presynaptic Gene Expression during Homeostatic Compensation at a Central Synapse

Area of Science:

• Neuroscience
• Molecular Biology
• Genetics

Background:

• Homeostatic matching of neuronal function is crucial for stable neural circuits.
• The role of transcriptional changes in trans-synaptic homeostatic coordination remains largely unexplored.

Purpose of the Study:

• To investigate whether presynaptic gene expression is altered by perturbations in postsynaptic excitability.
• To identify genes involved in trans-synaptic homeostatic plasticity at a central synapse.

Main Methods:

• Utilized a temperature-inducible Kir2.1-based activity clamp in *Drosophila* olfactory system.
• Applied transcriptomics to analyze gene expression changes in presynaptic olfactory receptor neurons following postsynaptic activity suppression.
• Examined gene expression at 12 hours and 48 hours post-perturbation.

Main Results:

• Suppression of postsynaptic activity induced significant changes in presynaptic gene expression.
• Affected genes are involved in synaptic vesicle release, remodeling, protein synthesis, metabolism, and stress responses.
• Identified conserved homeostatic mechanisms between peripheral and central synapses.

Conclusions:

• Transcriptional changes play a significant role in trans-synaptic homeostatic synaptic plasticity.
• Mechanisms of homeostatic plasticity show commonalities between peripheral and central synapses.
• The findings offer potential for developing novel connectivity tracing tools.