publications

2022

1. Frontiers

   Molecular mechanisms of synaptogenesis

   Qi, C., Luo, L.D.,  Feng, I., and Ma, S.

   Frontiers in Synaptic Neuroscience 2022

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   Synapses are the basic units for information processing and storage in the nervous system. It is only when the synaptic connection is established, that it becomes meaningful to discuss the structure and function of a circuit. In humans, our unparalleled cognitive abilities are correlated with an increase in the number of synapses. Additionally, genes involved in synaptogenesis are also frequently associated with neurological or psychiatric disorders, suggesting a relationship between synaptogenesis and brain physiology and pathology. Thus, understanding the molecular mechanisms of synaptogenesis is the key to the mystery of circuit assembly and neural computation. Furthermore, it would provide therapeutic insights for the treatment of neurological and psychiatric disorders. Multiple molecular events must be precisely coordinated to generate a synapse. To understand the molecular mechanisms underlying synaptogenesis, we need to know the molecular components of synapses, how these molecular components are held together, and how the molecular networks are refined in response to neural activity to generate new synapses. Thanks to the intensive investigations in this field, our understanding of the process of synaptogenesis has progressed significantly. Here, we will review the molecular mechanisms of synaptogenesis by going over the studies on the identification of molecular components in synapses and their functions in synaptogenesis, how cell adhesion molecules connect these synaptic molecules together, and how neural activity mobilizes these molecules to generate new synapses. Finally, we will summarize the human-specific regulatory mechanisms in synaptogenesis and results from human genetics studies on synaptogenesis and brain disorders.

2. GIM

   Variants in ADD1 cause intellectual disability, corpus callosum dysgenesis, and ventriculomegaly in humans

   Qi, C.,  Feng, I., Costa, A.R., Pinto-Costa, R., Neil, J.E., Caluseriu, O., Li, D., Ganetzky, R.D., Andersen, C.B., Fagerberg, C., Kansen, L.K., Bupp, C., Muraresku, C.C., Ruan, X., Kang, B., Hu, K., Zhong, R., Brites, P., Bhoj, E.J., Hill, R.S., Falk, M.J., Hakonarson, H., Kahle, K.T., Sousa, M.M., Walsh, C.A., and Zhang, X.

   Genetics in Medicine 2022

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   [Purpose] Adducins interconnect spectrin and actin filaments to form polygonal scaffolds beneath the cell membranes and form ring-like structures in neuronal axons. Adducins regulate mouse neural development, but their function in the human brain is unknown. [Methods] We used exome sequencing to uncover ADD1 variants associated with intellectual disability (ID) and brain malformations. We studied ADD1 splice isoforms in mouse and human neocortex development with RNA sequencing, super resolution imaging, and immunoblotting. We investigated 4 variant ADD1 proteins and heterozygous ADD1 cells for protein expression and ADD1–ADD2 dimerization. We studied Add1 functions in vivo using Add1 knockout mice. [Results] We uncovered loss-of-function ADD1 variants in 4 unrelated individuals affected by ID and/or structural brain defects. Three additional de novo copy number variations covering the ADD1 locus were associated with ID and brain malformations. ADD1 is highly expressed in the neocortex and the corpus callosum, whereas ADD1 splice isoforms are dynamically expressed between cortical progenitors and postmitotic neurons. Human variants impair ADD1 protein expression and/or dimerization with ADD2. Add1 knockout mice recapitulate corpus callosum dysgenesis and ventriculomegaly phenotypes. [Conclusion] Our human and mouse genetics results indicate that pathogenic ADD1 variants cause corpus callosum dysgenesis, ventriculomegaly, and/or ID.

2021

1. Nature

   Chronic social isolation signals starvation and reduces sleep in Drosophila

   Li, W., Wang, Z., Syed, S., Lyu, C., Lincoln, S., O’Neil, J., Nguyen, A.D.,  Feng, I., and Young, M.W.

   Nature 2021

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   Social isolation and loneliness have potent effects on public health. Research in social psychology suggests that compromised sleep quality is a key factor that links persistent loneliness to adverse health conditions. Although experimental manipulations have been widely applied to studying the control of sleep and wakefulness in animal models, how normal sleep is perturbed by social isolation is unknown. Here we report that chronic, but not acute, social isolation reduces sleep in Drosophila. We use quantitative behavioural analysis and transcriptome profiling to differentiate between brain states associated with acute and chronic social isolation. Although the flies had uninterrupted access to food, chronic social isolation altered the expression of metabolic genes and induced a brain state that signals starvation. Chronically isolated animals exhibit sleep loss accompanied by overconsumption of food, which resonates with anecdotal findings of loneliness-associated hyperphagia in humans. Chronic social isolation reduces sleep and promotes feeding through neural activities in the peptidergic fan-shaped body columnar neurons of the fly. Artificial activation of these neurons causes misperception of acute social isolation as chronic social isolation and thereby results in sleep loss and increased feeding. These results present a mechanistic link between chronic social isolation, metabolism, and sleep, addressing a long-standing call for animal models focused on loneliness.