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Updated: Jul 10, 2025

Studying the Hypothalamic Insulin Signal to Peripheral Glucose Intolerance with a Continuous Drug Infusion System into the Mouse Brain
Published on: January 4, 2018
OGT-1 regulates synaptic assembly through the insulin signaling pathway
Mengting Wu1, Huihui Jiang1, Qian Li1
1Department of Neurosurgery, State Key Laboratory of Medical Neurobiology and MOE Frontiers Center for Brain Science, Institutes of Brain Science, Zhongshan Hospital, Fudan University, Shanghai, China.
Abstract:
The formation and maintenance of synapses are precisely regulated, and the misregulation often leads to neurodevelopmental or neurodegenerative disorders. Besides intrinsic genetically encoded signaling pathways, synaptic structure and function are also regulated by extrinsic factors, such as nutrients. O-GlcNAc transferase (OGT), a nutrient sensor, is abundant in the nervous system and required for synaptic plasticity, learning, and memory. However, whether OGT is involved in synaptic development and the mechanism underlying the process are largely unknown. In this study, we found that OGT-1, the OGT homolog in C. elegans, regulates the presynaptic assembly in AIY interneurons. The insulin receptor DAF-2 acts upstream of OGT-1 to promote the presynaptic assembly by positively regulating the expression of ogt-1. This insulin-OGT-1 axis functions most likely by regulating neuronal activity. In this study, we elucidated a novel mechanism for synaptic development, and provided a potential link between synaptic development and insulin-related neurological disorders.
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