Rod-derived cone viability factor (RdCVF) is an inactive thioredoxin secreted by rod photoreceptors that protects cones from degeneration. Because the secondary loss of cones in retinitis pigmentosa (RP) leads to blindness, the administration of RdCVF is a promising therapy for this untreatable neurodegenerative disease. Here, we investigated the mechanism underlying the protective role of RdCVF in RP. We show that RdCVF acts through binding to Basigin-1 (BSG1), a transmembrane protein expressed specifically by photoreceptors. BSG1 binds to the glucose transporter GLUT1, resulting in increased glucose entry into cones. Increased glucose promotes cone survival by stimulation of aerobic glycolysis. Moreover, a missense mutation of RdCVF results in its inability to bind to BSG1, stimulate glucose uptake, and prevent secondary cone death in a model of RP. Our data uncover an entirely novel mechanism of neuroprotection through the stimulation of glucose metabolism.

An increasing number of genetic variants have been implicated in autism spectrum disorders (ASD), and the functional study of such variants will be critical for the elucidation of autism pathophysiology. Here, we report a de novo balanced translocation disruption of TRPC6, a cation channel, in a non-syndromic autistic individual. Using multiple models, such as dental pulp cells, iPSC-derived neuronal cells and mouse models, we demonstrate that TRPC6 reduction or haploinsufficiency leads to altered neuronal development, morphology, and function. The observed neuronal phenotypes could then be rescued by TRPC6 complementation and by treatment with IGF1 or hyperforin, a TRPC6-specific agonist, suggesting that ASD individuals with alterations in this pathway might benefit from these drugs. We also demonstrate that MeCP2 levels affect TRPC6 expression. Mutations in MeCP2 cause Rett syndrome, revealing common pathways among ASDs. Genetic sequencing of TRPC6 in 1041 ASD individuals and 2872 controls revealed significantly more nonsynonymous mutations in the ASD population, and identified loss-of-function mutations with incomplete penetrance in two patients. Taken together, these findings suggest that TRPC6 is a novel predisposing gene for ASD that may act in a multiple-hit model. This is the first study to use iPSC-derived human neurons to model non-syndromic ASD and illustrate the potential of modeling genetically complex sporadic diseases using such cells.

Spontaneous activity generated in the retina is necessary to establish a precise retinotopic map, but the underlying mechanisms are poorly understood. We demonstrate here that neural activity controls ephrin-A-mediated responses. In the mouse retinotectal system, we show that spontaneous activity of the retinal ganglion cells (RGCs) is needed, independently of synaptic transmission, for the ordering of the retinotopic map and the elimination of exuberant retinal axons. Activity blockade suppressed the repellent action of ephrin-A on RGC growth cones by cyclic AMP (cAMP)-dependent pathways. Unexpectedly, the ephrin-A5-induced retraction required cAMP oscillations rather than sustained increases in intracellular cAMP concentrations. Periodic photo-induced release of caged cAMP in growth cones rescued the response to ephrin-A5 when activity was blocked. These results provide a direct molecular link between spontaneous neural activity and axon guidance mechanisms during the refinement of neural maps.

Cyclic AMP (cAMP) and calcium are ubiquitous, interdependent second messengers that regulate a wide range of cellular processes. During development of neuronal networks they are critical for the first step of circuit formation, transducing signals required for axon pathfinding. Surprisingly, the spatial and temporal cAMP and calcium codes used by axon guidance molecules are unknown. Here, we identify characteristics of cAMP and calcium transients generated in growth cones during Netrin-1-dependent axon guidance. In filopodia, Netrin-1-dependent Deleted in Colorectal Cancer (DCC) receptor activation induces a transient increase in cAMP that causes a brief increase in calcium transient frequency. In contrast, activation of DCC in growth cone centers leads to a transient calciumdependent cAMP increase and a sustained increase in frequency of calcium transients. We show that filopodial cAMP transients regulate spinal axon guidance in vitro and commissural axon pathfinding in vivo. These growth cone codes provide a basis for selective activation of specific downstream effectors.cyclic AMP dynamics | calcium dynamics | compartmentalization | photoactivated adenylyl cyclase alpha | cyclic AMP oscillations C yclic AMP (cAMP) is a major cellular second messenger that activates and integrates multiple intracellular signaling pathways. Microdomains of cAMP are generated in cardiac myocytes (1), regional domains of cAMP are present in neurons (2, 3), and cAMP diffusion is restricted by rapid degradation by phosphodiesterases (4) that limit the duration of cAMP signaling (5, 6). However, little is known about spatial compartmentalization and temporal dynamics of cAMP in neuronal growth cones, despite the importance of cAMP for axon pathfinding in response to a wide range of molecular guidance cues, including Netrin-1 (7-11), semaphorins (12), Slits, and ephrins (13).Calcium is another ubiquitous second messenger involved in axon pathfinding, mediating responses to axon guidance molecules. In addition to axon steering, calcium modulates axon outgrowth and retraction (14,15). A sustained gradient of calcium across the growth cone is thought to be generated by asymmetric activation of axon guidance receptors, and to be the relevant calcium signal for axon pathfinding (16). Spontaneous fast and spatially restricted filopodial calcium transients are also sufficient to steer axons (17, 18). The frequency of slower transients in the entire growth cone controls the rate of axon extension in vivo and in vitro (19). The regulation of these transients by axon guidance cues has not been investigated.Filopodia are critical for axon pathfinding (20), and clues to their operation are provided by subcellular localization of signaling components. Filopodial enrichment of regulatory subunit II of protein kinase A, a major effector of cAMP, is required for growth cone attraction mediated by intracellular gradients of cAMP or PACAP (21). Modulation of spontaneous calcium transients in filopodia regulates axon turning (17). Temporal regulation o...

The calcium-stimulated adenylate cyclase 1 (AC1) has been shown to be required for the refinement of the retinotopic map, but the mechanisms involved are not known. To investigate this question, we devised a retinotectal coculture preparation that reproduces the gradual acquisition of topographic specificity along the rostrocaudal axis of the superior colliculus (SC) .

The development of neuronal circuits is controlled by guidance molecules that are hypothesized to interact with the cholesterol-enriched domains of the plasma membrane termed lipid rafts. Whether such domains enable local intracellular signalling at the submicrometre scale in developing neurons and are required for shaping the nervous system connectivity in vivo remains controversial. Here, we report a role for lipid rafts in generating domains of local cAMP signalling in axonal growth cones downstream of ephrin-A repulsive guidance cues. Ephrin-A-dependent retraction of retinal ganglion cell axons involves cAMP signalling restricted to the vicinity of lipid rafts and is independent of cAMP modulation outside of this microdomain. cAMP modulation near lipid rafts controls the pruning of ectopic axonal branches of retinal ganglion cells in vivo, a process requiring intact ephrin-A signalling. Together, our findings indicate that lipid rafts structure the subcellular organization of intracellular cAMP signalling shaping axonal arbors during the nervous system development.

cAMP critically modulates the development of neuronal connectivity. It is involved in a wide range of cellular processes that require independent regulation. However, our understanding of how this single second messenger achieves specific modulation of the signaling pathways involved remains incomplete. The subcellular compartmentalization and temporal regulation of cAMP signals have recently been identified as important coding strategies leading to specificity. Dynamic interactions of this cyclic nucleotide with other second messenger including calcium and cGMP are critically involved in the regulation of spatiotemporal control of cAMP. Recent technical improvements of fluorescent sensors facilitate cAMP monitoring, whereas optogenetic tools permit spatial and temporal control of cAMP manipulations, all of which enabled the direct investigation of spatiotemporal characteristics of cAMP modulation in developing neurons. Focusing on neuronal polarization, neurotransmitter specification, axon guidance, and refinement of neuronal connectivity, we summarize herein the recent advances in understanding the features of cAMP signals and their dynamic interactions with calcium and cGMP involved in shaping the nervous system.

The role of electrical activity in axon guidance has been extensively studied in vitro. To better understand its role in the intact nervous system, we imaged intracellular Ca 2+ in zebrafish primary motor neurons (PMN) during axon pathfinding in vivo. We found that PMN generate specific patterns of Ca 2+ spikes at different developmental stages. Spikes arose in the distal axon of PMN and were propagated to the cell body. Suppression of Ca 2+ spiking activity in single PMN led to stereotyped errors, but silencing all electrical activity had no effect on axon guidance, indicating that an activitybased competition rule regulates this process. This competition was not mediated by synaptic transmission. Combination of PlexinA3 knockdown with suppression of Ca 2+ activity in single PMN produced a synergistic increase in the incidence of pathfinding errors. However, expression of PlexinA3 transcripts was not regulated by activity. Our results provide an in vivo demonstration of the intersection of spontaneous electrical activity with the PlexinA3 guidance molecule receptor in regulation of axon pathfinding.calcium transients | spontaneous activity | stochastic expression D evelopment of the nervous system involves the outgrowth of a complex network of axons to specific synaptic targets. Axon pathfinding to the target area is directed by interactions between the growth cone and guidance cues present in the environment (1, 2). Electrical activity has been considered to have a role by contributing to the fine tuning of connections (3, 4). However, evidence for a role of activity during early pathfinding decisions has been emerging (5-7). The mechanisms underlying such regulation remain unclear, but the response of neurons to chemotropic molecules in vitro is modulated by electrical activity (7,8).Here, we use the zebrafish embryo as an in vivo model to address the role of electrical activity in axon pathfinding. Each spinal hemisegment contains 3 primary motor neurons (PMN), named caudal primary (CaP), middle primary (MiP), and rostral primary (RoP), and ∼30 secondary motor neurons (SMN). During the first day of development, all three PMN axons pioneer into the periphery through a shared exit point, follow a common pathway to reach the horizontal myoseptum (HMS) and then diverge onto cell subtype-specific trajectories (9) (Fig. 1A).We characterize early calcium (Ca 2+ ) signals in PMN of intact zebrafish embryos during axon outgrowth and investigate their role in pathfinding behavior. We show that spontaneous electrical activity is expressed in developing PMN during the entire process of axon pathfinding. Specific patterns of Ca 2+ spiking activity are present at different developmental stages and expressed sequentially in CaP, MiP, and then RoP, beginning with the onset of axonogenesis. To investigate the role of Ca 2+ activity, mosaic expression of an exogenous potassium channel (hKir2.1) was used to suppress electrical activity in single PMN. The results indicate that an activity-based competition rule regulates e...