Uncovering the genetic blueprint of the C. elegans nervous system

István A. Kovács, Dániel L. Barabási, Albert László Barabási*

*Corresponding author for this work

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

20 Scopus citations

Abstract

Despite rapid advances in connectome mapping and neuronal genetics, we lack theoretical and computational tools to unveil, in an experimentally testable fashion, the genetic mechanisms that govern neuronal wiring. Here we introduce a computational framework to link the adjacency matrix of a connectome to the expression patterns of its neurons, helping us uncover a set of genetic rules that govern the interactions between neurons in contact. The method incorporates the biological realities of the system, accounting for noise from data collection limitations, as well as spatial restrictions. The resulting methodology allows us to infer a network of 19 innexin interactions that govern the formation of gap junctions in Caenorhabditis elegans, five of which are already supported by experimental data. As advances in single-cell gene expression profiling increase the accuracy and the coverage of the data, the developed framework will allow researchers to systematically infer experimentally testable connection rules, offering mechanistic predictions for synapse and gap junction formation.

Original languageEnglish (US)
Pages (from-to)33570-33577
Number of pages8
JournalProceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America
Volume117
Issue number52
DOIs
StatePublished - Dec 2020

Funding

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS. We thank Emma Towlson and Oliver Hobert for helpful discussions and data sharing, as well as Alice Grishchenko for help in designing the figures. This work was supported by the European Union’s Horizon 2020 research and innovation program under Grant Agreement 810115 - Dynamics and Structure of Networks (DYNASNET). D.L.B. was supported by NIH National Institute of General Medical Sciences Grant T32 GM008313. A.-L.B. was supported by the NSF Award 1734821.

Keywords

  • C. elegans
  • Connectome
  • Networks
  • Neuroscience

ASJC Scopus subject areas

  • General

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