Artificial Intelligence Approaches to Assessing Primary Cilia

Cilia are microtubule based cellular appendages that function as signaling centers for a diversity of signaling pathways in many mammalian cell types. ...

Indiana University-Purdue University Indianapolis

The neuropeptide, melanin concentrating hormone (MCH), and its G protein-coupled receptor, melanin concentrating hormone receptor 1 (Mchr1), are expressed centrally in adult rodents. MCH signaling has been implicated in diverse behaviors such as feeding, sleep, anxiety, as well as addiction and reward. While a model utilizing the Mchr1 promoter to drive constitutive expression of Cre recombinase (Mchr1-Cre) exists, there is a need for an inducible Mchr1-Cre to determine the roles for this signaling pathway in neural development and adult neuronal function. Here, we generated a BAC transgenic mouse where the Mchr1 promotor drives expression of tamoxifen inducible CreER recombinase. Many aspects of the Mchr1-Cre expression pattern are recapitulated by the Mchr1-CreER model, though there are also notable differences. Most strikingly, compared to the constitutive model, the new Mchr1-CreER model shows strong expression in adult animals in hypothalamic brain regions involved in feeding behavior but diminished expression in regions involved in reward, such as the nucleus accumbens. The inducible Mchr1-CreER allele will help reveal the potential for Mchr1 signaling to impact neural development and subsequent behavioral phenotypes, as well as contribute to the understanding of the MCH signaling pathway in terminally differentiated adult neurons and the diverse behaviors that it influences.

A CreER mouse to study melanin concentrating hormone signaling in the developing brain.

Primary cilia dysfunction has been associated with hyperphagia and obesity in both ciliopathy patients and mouse models of cilia perturbation. Neurons throughout the brain possess these solitary cellular appendages, including in the feeding centers of the hypothalamus. Several cell biology questions associated with primary neuronal cilia signaling are challenging to address . Here we utilize primary hypothalamic neuronal cultures to study ciliary signaling in relevant cell types. Importantly, these cultures contain neuronal populations critical for appetite and satiety such as pro-opiomelanocortin (POMC) and agouti related peptide (AgRP) expressing neurons and are thus useful for studying signaling involved in feeding behavior. Correspondingly, these cultured neurons also display electrophysiological activity and respond to both local and peripheral signals that act on the hypothalamus to influence feeding behaviors, such as leptin and melanin concentrating hormone (MCH). Interestingly, we found that cilia mediated hedgehog signaling, generally associated with developmental processes, can influence ciliary GPCR signaling (Mchr1) in terminally differentiated neurons. Specifically, pharmacological activation of the hedgehog-signaling pathway using the smoothened agonist, SAG, attenuated the ability of neurons to respond to ligands (MCH) of ciliary GPCRs. Understanding how the hedgehog pathway influences cilia GPCR signaling in terminally differentiated neurons could reveal the molecular mechanisms associated with clinical features of ciliopathies, such as hyperphagia-associated obesity.

Hedgehog Pathway Activation Alters Ciliary Signaling in Primary Hypothalamic Cultures.

An emerging number of rare genetic disorders termed ciliopathies are associated with pediatric obesity. It is becoming clear that the mechanisms associated with cilia dysfunction and obesity in these syndromes are complex. In addition to ciliopathic syndromic forms of obesity, several cilia-associated signaling gene mutations also lead to morbid obesity. While cilia have critical and diverse functions in energy homeostasis including their roles in centrally mediated food intake as well as in peripheral tissues, many questions remain. Here, we briefly discuss the syndromic ciliopathies and monoallelic cilia signaling gene mutations associated with obesity. We also describe potential ways cilia may be involved in common obesity. We discuss how neuronal cilia impact food intake potentially through leptin signaling and changes in ciliary G protein-coupled receptor (GPCR) signaling. We highlight several recent studies that have implicated the potential for cilia in peripheral tissues such as adipose and the pancreas to contribute to metabolic dysfunction. Then we discuss the potential for cilia to impact energy homeostasis through their roles in both development and adult tissue homeostasis. The studies discussed in this review highlight how a comprehensive understanding of the requirement of cilia for the regulation of diverse biological functions will contribute to our understanding of common forms of obesity.

Ruchi Bansal

Department of Biology

Indiana University-Purdue University Indianapolis

Artificial Intelligence Approaches to Assessing Primary Cilia

Ruchi Bansal

.css-o250i3{font-size:18px;font-family:Open Sans,sans-serif;line-height:21.6px;}Department of Biology

Indiana University-Purdue University Indianapolis

Artificial Intelligence Approaches to Assessing Primary Cilia

Department of Biology