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Cytokinesis remnants define first neuronal asymmetry in vivo

Nature Neuroscience volume 14, pages 1525–1533 (2011)Cite this article

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Abstract

Polarization of a neuron begins with the appearance of the first neurite, thus defining the ultimate growth axis. Unlike late occurring polarity events (such as axonal growth), very little is known about this fundamental process. We show here that, in Drosophila melanogaster neurons in vivo, the first membrane deformation occurred 3.6 min after precursor division. Clustering of adhesion complex components (Bazooka (Par-3), cadherin–catenin) marked this place by 2.8 min after division; the upstream phosphatidylinositol 4,5-bisphosphate, by 0.7 min after division; and the furrow components RhoA and Aurora kinase, from the time of cytokinesis. Local DE-cadherin inactivation prevented sprout formation, whereas perturbation of division orientation did not alter polarization from the cytokinesis pole. This is, to our knowledge, the first molecular study of initial neuronal polarization in vivo. The mechanisms of polarization seem to be defined at the precursor stage.

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Figure 1: In vivo differentiation of wild-type and dsas mutant sensory neurons.
Figure 2: dsas mutant neurons retain proper intracellular asymmetry during polarization.
Figure 3: α-cat assembly precedes and marks the area of symmetry breakage.
Figure 4: Centriole rotation at the apical pole follows the assembly of adherens junction components.
Figure 5: PtdIns(4,5)P2 enrichment at the place of first sprout formation precedes and marks the assembly of DE-cad complex.
Figure 6: CALI inactivation of DE-cad blocks initial bud formation.
Figure 7: Mitosis-inherited cortical furrow molecules are retained in the neuron and mark the area of symmetry breakage.

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Acknowledgements

We would like to thank C. Gonzalez, F. Calderon de Anda, A. Gärtner and F. Feiguin for discussions; M. Morgan for technical help and discussions; T. Lecuit and R. Levayer for sharing their adapted CALI protocol; and Y. Bellaiche (Curie Institute), H. Bellen (Baylor College of Medicine), C. Gonzalez (Institut de Recerca Biomedica, Barcelona), T.J.C. Harris (University of Toronto), S. Hayashi (RIKEN Center for Developmental Biology), Y. Hong (University of Pittsburgh), J. Knoblich (Institute of Molecular Biotechnology, Wien), H. Oda (JT Biohistory Research Hall, Takatsuki), M. Rolls (Pennsylvania State University), the Bloomington Drosophila Stock Center and the Developmental Studies Hybridoma Bank for providing us with stocks and reagents. G.P. was supported by a Boehringer Ingelheim Foundation scholarship. This work was supported by Katholieke Universiteit Leuven and Fonds Wetenschappelijk Onderzook-Vlaanderen.

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Author notes

  1. Giulia Pollarolo and Joachim G Schulz: These authors contributed equally to this work.

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Molecular and Developmental Genetics, Vlaams Instituut voor Biotechnologie, Campus Gasthuisberg, Leuven, Belgium

    Giulia Pollarolo, Joachim G Schulz, Sebastian Munck & Carlos G Dotti

  2. Katholieke Universiteit Leuven Center for Human Genetics, Campus Gasthuisberg, Leuven, Belgium

    Giulia Pollarolo, Joachim G Schulz, Sebastian Munck & Carlos G Dotti

  3. Centro de Biologìa Molecular Severo Ochoa, Universitad Autónoma de Madrid, Madrid, Spain

    Carlos G Dotti

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  1. Giulia Pollarolo
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Contributions

G.P.: experimental design, data collection and assembly, data interpretation, manuscript writing. J.G.S.: experimental design, data assembly and interpretation, manuscript writing. S.M.: technical and imaging assistance, data analysis. C.G.D.: leading and coordinating the project, manuscript writing and editing. J.G.S. and C.G.D.: supervision of the project.

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Correspondence to Joachim G Schulz or Carlos G Dotti.

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Supplementary information

Supplementary Text and Figures

Supplementary Figures 1–15 (PDF 2678 kb)

Supplementary Video 1

α-catenin dynamics from PIIIb division to neuron differentiation. Complete time-lapse of which representative stills are shown in Supplementary Figure 6. This movie shows the three-dimensional (3D) reconstruction of the PIIIb (uppermost, leftmost cell) division, sheath cell (apically) and neuron (basally) birth, in a wild-type living pupa, expressing the nuclear marker His-RFP (red) and α-cat-GFP (green) in the sensory organ cells. The time-lapse covers a period of about 2.5 hours starting at the entry of PIIIb mitosis (the images were acquired every 2.5 minutes and the movie was assembled at 4 frames per second). Notice the accumulation of GFP dots in between the sheath and the neuron after PIIIb mitosis, and the following migration of the GFP cluster towards the apical-anterior direction. Lateral view (anterior is left, apical is up). (MOV 1076 kb)

Supplementary Video 2

α-catenin dynamics and first neuronal sprout formation. This movie shows the 3D reconstruction of the PIIIb (uppermost, leftmost cell) division, sheath cell (apically) and neuron (basally) birth, in a wild-type living pupa, expressing the nuclear marker His-RFP (red), the neuronal membrane marker PON-RFP (red) and α-cat-GFP in the sensory organ cells. The time-lapse covers a period of about 13 minutes from PIIIb anaphase (the images were acquired every 43 seconds and the movie was assembled at 1.5 frames per second). During the course of the movie, notice the appearance of GFP dots in between the sheath cell and the neuron at the place of cytokinesis, and the subsequent organization of the GFP clusters around the emerging neuronal sprout (see enrichment of PON-RFP at the apical anterior neuronal pole). Lateral / basal view (anterior is left, apical is up). (MOV 946 kb)

Supplementary Video 3

Rho1 dynamics and first neuronal sprout formation. Complete time-lapse of which representative stills are shown in Figure 7. This movie shows the 3D reconstruction of the PIIIb (uppermost, leftmost cell) division, sheath cell (apically) and neuron (basally, asterisk) birth, in a wild-type living pupa, expressing the nuclear marker His-RFP (red), the neuronal membrane marker PON-RFP (red) and Rho1-GFP in the sensory organ cells. The time-lapse covers a period of about 16 minutes from PIIIb late metaphase (the images were acquired every 43 seconds and the movie was assembled at 1.5 frames per second). Notice the GFP enrichment in between the sheath cell and the neuronal chromosomes from anaphase, and the following remodeling of the GFP around the emerging neuronal sprout (see enrichment of PON-RFP at the apical anterior neuronal pole). Apical / lateral view (anterior is left, apical is up). (MOV 2952 kb)

Supplementary Video 4

Aurora-A dynamics from PIIIb division to first neuronal sprout formation. Complete time-lapse of which representative stills are shown in Supplementary Figure 12. This movie shows the 3D reconstruction of the PIIIb (uppermost, leftmost cell) division, sheath cell (apically) and neuron (basally, asterisk) birth, in a wild-type living pupa, expressing the nuclear marker His-RFP (red), and Aurora-A-GFP in the sensory organ cells. The time-lapse covers a period of about 18 minutes from PIIIb metaphase (the images were acquired every 43 seconds and the movie was assembled at 1.5 frames per second). Notice that an Aurora-A GFP cluster appears in between the sheath cell and the neuron at the end of cytokinesis, and is then retained at the anterior-apical neuronal pole. Lateral view (anterior is left, apical is up). (MOV 1573 kb)

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Pollarolo, G., Schulz, J., Munck, S. et al. Cytokinesis remnants define first neuronal asymmetry in vivo. Nat Neurosci 14, 1525–1533 (2011). https://doi.org/10.1038/nn.2976

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