Open AccessUnique homeobox codes delineate all the neuron classes of C. elegans
Author(s) -
Molly Reilly,
Cyril Cros,
Erdem Varol,
Eviatar Yemini,
Oliver Hobert
Publication year - 2020
Publication title -
nature
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 15.993
H-Index - 1226
eISSN - 1476-4687
pISSN - 0028-0836
DOI - 10.1038/s41586-020-2618-9
Subject(s) - homeobox , caenorhabditis elegans , biology , gene , computational biology , cell type , neuron , emx2 , function (biology) , homeobox a1 , neuroscience , homeobox protein nkx 2.5 , genetics , cell , gene expression
It is not known at present whether neuronal cell-type diversity-defined by cell-type-specific anatomical, biophysical, functional and molecular signatures-can be reduced to relatively simple molecular descriptors of neuronal identity 1 . Here we show, through examination of the expression of all of the conserved homeodomain proteins encoded by the Caenorhabditis elegans genome 2 , that the complete set of 118 neuron classes of C. elegans can be described individually by unique combinations of the expression of homeodomain proteins, thereby providing-to our knowledge-the simplest currently known descriptor of neuronal diversity. Computational and genetic loss-of-function analyses corroborate the notion that homeodomain proteins not only provide unique descriptors of neuron type, but also have a critical role in specifying neuronal identity. We speculate that the pervasive use of homeobox genes in defining unique neuronal identities reflects the evolutionary history of neuronal cell-type specification.