Experience-Dependent Remodeling of Juvenile Brain Olfactory Sensory Neuron Synaptic Connectivity in an Early-Life Critical Period
Summary
We describe here methods for inducing and analyzing olfactory experience-dependent remodeling of antennal lobe synaptic glomeruli in the Drosophila juvenile brain.
Abstract
Early-life olfactory sensory experience induces dramatic synaptic glomeruli remodeling in the Drosophila juvenile brain, which is experientially dose-dependent, temporally restricted, and transiently reversible only in a short, well-defined critical period. The directionality of brain circuit synaptic connectivity remodeling is determined by the specific odorant acting on the respondent receptor class of olfactory sensory neurons. In general, each neuron class expresses only a single odorant receptor and innervates a single olfactory synaptic glomerulus. In the Drosophila genetic model, the full array of olfactory glomeruli has been precisely mapped by odorant responsiveness and behavioral output. Ethyl butyrate (EB) odorant activates Or42a receptor neurons innervating the VM7 glomerulus. During the early-life critical period, EB experience drives dose-dependent synapse elimination in the Or42a olfactory sensory neurons. Timed periods of dosed EB odorant exposure allow investigation of experience-dependent circuit connectivity pruning in juvenile brain. Confocal microscopy imaging of antennal lobe synaptic glomeruli is done with Or42a receptor-driven transgenic markers that provide quantification of synapse number and innervation volume. The sophisticated Drosophila genetic toolkit enables the systematic dissection of the cellular and molecular mechanisms mediating brain circuit remodeling.
Introduction
The remodeling of juvenile brain circuits during early life represents the last chance for large-scale synaptic connectivity changes to match the highly variable, unpredictable environment into which an animal is born. As the most abundant group of animals, insects share this evolutionarily conserved, foundational critical period remodeling mechanism1. Critical periods open with the onset of sensory input, exhibit reversible circuit changes to optimize connectivity, and then close when stabilization forces resist further remodeling2. Insects are particularly reliant on olfactory sensory information and show a well-defined olfactory critical period. Drosophila provides an excellent genetic model to investigate this experience-dependent critical period in the juvenile brain. Odorant experience during the first few days following eclosion drives striking circuit connectivity changes in individually identified synaptic glomeruli3,4. The direction of remodeling is dependent on the specific input odorant experience. Some odorants cause an increase in the synaptic glomerulus volume for a couple of days post-eclosion (dpe)3,5,6,7, whereas other odorants cause a rapid elimination of synapses during the 0-2 dpe critical period, resulting in decreased innervation volume8,9,10. Specifically, ethyl butyrate (EB) odorant experience drives dose-dependent synaptic pruning of the Or42a olfactory receptor neurons only during this early-life critical period8. The synapse elimination is completely reversible by modulating EB odorant input within the critical period but becomes permanent following the closure of the critical period. This olfactory experience-dependent synaptic pruning provides a valuable experimental system to elucidate the temporally restricted mechanisms underlying juvenile brain circuit remodeling.
Here, we present a detailed protocol used to induce and analyze EB experience-dependent synaptic pruning of Or42a receptor olfactory sensory neurons during the early-life critical period. We show that Or42a synaptic terminals in the antennal lobe VM7 glomerulus can be specifically labeled by transgenically driving a membrane-tethered mCD8::GFP marker, either directly fused to the Or42a promoter (Or42a-mCD8::GFP)11 or using the Gal4/UAS binary expression system (Or42a-Gal4 driving UAS-mCD8::GFP)12. Individual Or42a neuron synapses can be similarly labeled using targeted transgenic expression of presynaptic active zone markers fused to an array of fluorescent tags (e.g., Bruchpilot::RFP)8 or an electron-dense signal for ultrastructural synapse analyses (e.g., miniSOG-mCherry)8. Or42a synaptic terminals can be imaged with a combination of laser-scanning confocal microscopy and transmission electron microscopy. We show that Or42a synaptic glomeruli pruning is EB dose-dependent, scaling to the concentration of the timed odorant experience. The percentage of EB odorant dissolved in mineral oil used as a vehicle can be varied, as can the timed duration of the odorant exposure in developmentally staged animals. Finally, we show the methods used to analyze the extent of synaptic glomeruli pruning by measuring the VM7 innervation fluorescence intensity and volume. Synapse number can also be quantified by counting labeled synaptic puncta and by measuring synaptic ultrastructure parameters using transmission electron microscopy8. Overall, the protocol shown here is a powerful approach that enables the systematic dissection of both cellular and molecular mechanisms mediating Drosophila olfactory circuit synaptic connectivity pruning during a juvenile critical period. The general odor exposure setup described in this study has been utilized in previous studies using other odors and assaying other glomeruli3,7.
Protocol
Representative Results
Discussion
The odorant exposure and brain imaging protocol presented here can be used to reliably induce and quantify experience-dependent olfactory sensory neuron synaptic glomeruli pruning during an early-life critical period. Earlier studies utilizing this treatment paradigm to explore olfactory circuit remodeling began odorant exposure on the 2nd day after eclosion3,4,5. In contrast, we begin odorant exposure in pharate pupa…
Disclosures
The authors have nothing to disclose.
Acknowledgements
We thank the other Broadie Lab members for their valuable input. Figures were created using BioRender.com. This work was supported by National Institute of Health grants MH084989 and NS131557 to K.B.
Materials
| For Odor Exposure | |||
| Drosophila vials | Genesee Scientific | 32-110 | |
| Ethyl butyrate | Sigma Aldrich | E15701 | |
| Microcentrifuge tubes | Fisher Scientific | 05-408-129 | |
| Mineral oil | Sigma Aldrich | M3516 | |
| Odor chambers | Glasslock | ||
| Paint brushes | Winsor & Newton | Series 233 | |
| Parafilm | Thermofisher | S37440 | |
| Wire mesh | Scienceware | 378460000 | |
| Brain Dissection | |||
| Ethanol, 190 proof | Decon Labs | 2801 | Diluted to 70% |
| Forceps | Fine Science Tools | 11251-30 | Dumont #5 |
| Paraformaldehyde | Electron Microscope Sciences | 157-8 | Diluted to 4% |
| Petri dishes | Fisher Scientific | 08-757-100B | |
| Phosphate-buffered saline | Thermo Fisher Scientific | 70011-044 | Diluted to 1x |
| Sucrose | Fisher Scientific | BP220-1 | |
| Sylgard | Electron Microscope Sciences | 24236-10 | |
| Triton-X 100 | Fisher Scientific | BP151-100 | |
| Brain Immunocytochemistry | |||
| 488 goat anti-chicken | Invitrogen | A11039 | |
| 546 goat anti-rat | Invitrogen | A11081 | |
| Bovine serum albumin | Sigma Aldrich | A9647 | |
| Chicken anti-GFP | Abcam | 13970 | |
| Coverslips | Avantor | 48366-067 | 25 x 25 mm |
| Double-sided tape | Scotch | 34-8724-5228-8 | |
| Fluoromount-G | Electron Microscope Sciences | 17984-25 | |
| Microscope slides | Fisher Scientific | 12-544-2 | 75 x 25 mm |
| Nail polish | Sally Hansen | 109 | Xtreme Wear, Invisible |
| Normal goat serum | Sigma Aldrich | G9023 | |
| Rat anti-CadN | Developmental Studies Hybridoma Bank | AB_528121 | |
| Confocal/Analysis | |||
| Any computer/laptop | |||
| Confocal microscope | Carl Zeiss | Zeiss 510 META | |
| Fiji software | Fiji | Version 2.14.0/1.54f |
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