Escape steering by cholecystokinin peptidergic signaling
Lili Chen,
Yuting Liu,
Pan Su,
Wesley Hung,
Haiwen Li,
Ya Wang,
Zhongpu Yue,
Ming-Hai Ge,
Zheng-Xing Wu,
Yan Zhang,
Peng Fei,
Li-Ming Chen,
Louis Tao,
Heng Mao,
Mei Zhen,
Shangbang Gao
Affiliations
Lili Chen
Key Laboratory of Molecular Biophysics of the Ministry of Education, College of Life Science and Technology, Huazhong University of Science and Technology, Wuhan 430074, P.R. China
Yuting Liu
Key Laboratory of Molecular Biophysics of the Ministry of Education, College of Life Science and Technology, Huazhong University of Science and Technology, Wuhan 430074, P.R. China
Pan Su
Key Laboratory of Molecular Biophysics of the Ministry of Education, College of Life Science and Technology, Huazhong University of Science and Technology, Wuhan 430074, P.R. China
Wesley Hung
Lunenfeld-Tanenbaum Research Institute, Mount Sinai Hospital, University of Toronto, Toronto, ON M5G 1X5, Canada
Haiwen Li
Center for Quantitative Biology, Peking University, Beijing 100871, P.R. China; LMAM, School of Mathematical Sciences, Peking University, Beijing 100871, P.R. China
Ya Wang
Key Laboratory of Molecular Biophysics of the Ministry of Education, College of Life Science and Technology, Huazhong University of Science and Technology, Wuhan 430074, P.R. China
Zhongpu Yue
Key Laboratory of Molecular Biophysics of the Ministry of Education, College of Life Science and Technology, Huazhong University of Science and Technology, Wuhan 430074, P.R. China
Ming-Hai Ge
Key Laboratory of Molecular Biophysics of the Ministry of Education, College of Life Science and Technology, Huazhong University of Science and Technology, Wuhan 430074, P.R. China
Zheng-Xing Wu
Key Laboratory of Molecular Biophysics of the Ministry of Education, College of Life Science and Technology, Huazhong University of Science and Technology, Wuhan 430074, P.R. China
Yan Zhang
Key Laboratory of Molecular Biophysics of the Ministry of Education, College of Life Science and Technology, Huazhong University of Science and Technology, Wuhan 430074, P.R. China
Peng Fei
School of Optical and Electronic Information, Wuhan National Laboratory for Optoelectronics, Huazhong University of Science and Technology, Wuhan 430074, P.R. China
Li-Ming Chen
Key Laboratory of Molecular Biophysics of the Ministry of Education, College of Life Science and Technology, Huazhong University of Science and Technology, Wuhan 430074, P.R. China
Louis Tao
Center for Quantitative Biology, Peking University, Beijing 100871, P.R. China
Heng Mao
LMAM, School of Mathematical Sciences, Peking University, Beijing 100871, P.R. China
Mei Zhen
Lunenfeld-Tanenbaum Research Institute, Mount Sinai Hospital, University of Toronto, Toronto, ON M5G 1X5, Canada
Shangbang Gao
Key Laboratory of Molecular Biophysics of the Ministry of Education, College of Life Science and Technology, Huazhong University of Science and Technology, Wuhan 430074, P.R. China; Corresponding author
Summary: Escape is an evolutionarily conserved and essential avoidance response. Considered to be innate, most studies on escape responses focused on hard-wired circuits. We report here that a neuropeptide NLP-18 and its cholecystokinin receptor CKR-1 enable the escape circuit to execute a full omega (Ω) turn. We demonstrate in vivo NLP-18 is mainly secreted by the gustatory sensory neuron (ASI) to activate CKR-1 in the head motor neuron (SMD) and the turn-initiating interneuron (AIB). Removal of NLP-18 or CKR-1 or specific knockdown of CKR-1 in SMD or AIB neurons leads to shallower turns, hence less robust escape steering. Consistently, elevation of head motor neuron (SMD)'s Ca2+ transients during escape steering is attenuated upon the removal of NLP-18 or CKR-1. In vitro, synthetic NLP-18 directly evokes CKR-1-dependent currents in oocytes and CKR-1-dependent Ca2+ transients in SMD. Thus, cholecystokinin peptidergic signaling modulates an escape circuit to generate robust escape steering.
