Abstract

Glia shape the development and function of the C. elegans nervous system, especially its sense organs and central neuropil (nerve ring). Cell-type-specific promoters allow investigators to label or manipulate individual glial cell types, and therefore provide a key tool for deciphering glial function. In this technical resource, we compare the specificity, brightness, and consistency of cell-type-specific promoters for C. elegans glia. We identify a set of promoters for the study of seven glial cell types (F16F9.3, amphid and phasmid sheath glia; F11C7.2, amphid sheath glia only; grl-2, amphid and phasmid socket glia; hlh-17, cephalic (CEP) sheath glia; and grl-18, inner labial (IL) socket glia) as well as a pan-glial promoter (mir-228). We compare these promoters to promoters that are expressed more variably in combinations of glial cell types (delm-1 and itx-1). We note that the expression of some promoters depends on external conditions or the internal state of the organism, such as developmental stage, suggesting glial plasticity. Finally, we demonstrate an approach for prospectively identifying cell-type-specific glial promoters using existing single-cell sequencing data, and we use this approach to identify two novel promoters specific to IL socket glia (col-53 and col-177).

摘要

神经胶质塑造了秀丽隐杆线虫神经系统的发育和功能，尤其是其感觉器官和中枢神经元（神经环）。细胞类型特异性启动子允许研究人员标记或操纵单个神经胶质细胞类型，因此为破译神经胶质功能提供了一个关键工具。在此技术资源中，我们比较了线虫神经胶质细胞类型特异性启动子的特异性、亮度和一致性。我们确定了一组用于研究七种神经胶质细胞类型的启动子（F16F9.3，amphid 和phasmid鞘神经胶质；F11C7.2，仅amphid 鞘神经胶质；grl-2，amphid 和phasmid socket 神经胶质；hlh-17，头部（ CEP) 鞘胶质细胞；和grl-18、内唇 (IL) 窝神经胶质) 以及泛神经胶质启动子 ( mir-228 )。我们将这些启动子与在神经胶质细胞类型（delm-1和itx-1）的组合中表达更可变的启动子进行比较。我们注意到一些启动子的表达取决于外部条件或生物体的内部状态，例如发育阶段，表明神经胶质可塑性。最后，我们展示了一种使用现有单细胞测序数据前瞻性识别细胞类型特异性神经胶质启动子的方法，并且我们使用这种方法来识别两种特定于 IL 插槽神经胶质（col-53和col-177）的新型启动子。