InteractiveFly: GeneBrief

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The central neuroendocrine system in the Drosophila brain includes two centers, the pars intercerebralis (PI) and pars lateralis (PL). The PI and PL contain neurosecretory cells (NSCs) which project their axons to the ring gland, a complex of peripheral endocrine glands flanking the aorta. This paper presents a developmental and genetic study of the PI and PL. The PI and PL are derived from adjacent neurectodermal placodes in the dorso-medial head. The placodes invaginate during late embryogenesis and become attached to the brain primordium. The PI placode and its derivatives express the homeobox gene Dchx1 and can be followed until the late pupal stage. NSCs labeled by the expression of Drosophila insulin-like peptide (Dilp), FMRF, and myomodulin form part of the Dchx1 expressing PI domain. NSCs of the PL can be followed throughout development by their expression of the adhesion molecule FasII. Decapentaplegic (Dpp), secreted along the dorsal midline of the early embryo, inhibits the formation of the PI and PL placodes; loss of the signal results in an unpaired, enlarged placodeal ectoderm. The other early activated signaling pathway, EGFR, is positively required for the maintenance of the PI placode. Of the dorso-medially expressed head gap genes, only tailless (tll) is required for the specification of the PI. Absence of the corpora cardiaca, the endocrine gland innervated by neurosecretory cells of the PI and PL, does not affect the formation of the PI/PL, indicating that inductive stimuli from their target tissue are not essential for early PI/PL development (de Velasco, 2007).

The insect neuroendocrine system consists of several populations of neurosecretory cells (NSCs) with peripheral axons terminating in contact with specialized neurohemal glands where the neurohormones are released. The majority of NSCs are found in the dorso-medial protocerebrum, the so-called pars intercerebralis (PI) and pars lateralis (PL). These NSCs project their axons towards a set of small glands, the corpora cardiaca (CC), and corpora allata (CA). In Drosophila, the CC and CA, along with a third neuroendocrine gland, the prothoracic gland (PTG), are fused into a single complex, the ring gland, which surrounds the anterior tip of the aorta. The PI-PL/ring gland complex of insects has been repeatedly compared to the hypothalamus-pituitary axis in vertebrates, based on clear similarities between the two, anatomically and functionally (i.e., their shared role in energy metabolism, growth, water retention, and reproduction; reviewed in Nassel, 2002). Previous studies of the insect neuroendocrine system have focused on the neurosecretory cells of the PI and PL; however, not much is known about the different types of non-secretory PI neurons, and even less information exists about the development of this important part of the insect brain. This paper focused on the formation of the PI during Drosophila embryonic and larval development (de Velasco, 2007).

The PI is histologically recognized as the unpaired antero-medial domain of the protocerebral cortex that is located anterior of the calyces of the mushroom bodies and dorsal of the central complex. Beside innervating the neuroendocrine glands and thereby acting as the uppermost center of endocrine release, the neurites of PI neurons are structurally and functionally integrated into the medial compartments of the protocerebrum. Some of the cells of the PI were shown to play a role in various behaviors, including locomotor activity and flight behavior. Moreover, an early role of certain PI cells as pioneer neurons during the formation of protocerebral axon tracts has also been reported (de Velasco, 2007).

The extremely limited information about the development of the PI stems mainly from studies on grasshopper and Drosophila. For grasshopper, the dorso-medial subpopulation of brain neuroblasts, measuring approximately 20 in number, was tentatively assigned to the formation of the PI, although detailed lineage studies have not yet been carried out. Three groups of cells that form part of the adult PI have been followed in more detail from embryonic stages onward (Ludwig, 2002). These include (part of) the NSCs, a group of unpaired cells derived from a cell called the 'dorsal midline progenitor', and a small set of early differentiating neurons expressing the antigen TERM-1 that act as pioneers of the brain commissure (de Velasco, 2007).

Cells situated along the antero-dorso-medial edge of the population of brain neuroblasts can be assumed to produce neuronal offspring that gets incorporated into the PI, although specific lineages have not yet been followed. The neurectoderm of the so-called 'head midline', which gives rise to at least part of (if not the entire) PI was described as a specialized region with morphological and molecular similarities to the ventral (trunk) midline (mesectoderm). Both trunk and head midline domains contain neuronal progenitors that do not delaminate as individual cells like the neuroblasts of the lateral neurectoderm, but that invaginate as an elongated furrow (ventral midline) or as several separate placodes (head midline). Furthermore, both trunk and head midline require the activity of EGFR signaling for survival and fate specification (Dumstrei, 1998). Another molecular characteristic shared by the midline of the trunk and head is the extended expression of the neurogenic genes of the E(spl) complex. These genes are activated in the neurectoderm (in general) by Notch signaling, and are responsible for inhibiting proneural gene expression, thereby mediating the lateral inhibition process that delimits the number of neuroblasts delaminating at any given position from the neurectoderm. At the stage when no more neuroblasts are born, Notch signaling and the expression of E(spl) transcripts cease. This happens around stage 11 in the lateral neurectoderm of the trunk and the head. However, in the midline domains, expression continues far beyond that stage, up until stage 14 (Dumstrei, 1998). This finding was interpreted to indicate a temporally extended neurogenic potential of the midline cells. In other words, neurectodermal cells along the head midline are still neurogenic at a stage when other ectodermal cells are already on their way to become epidermal cells (de Velasco, 2007).

A comprehensive developmental study of the Drosophila pars intercerebralis and pars lateralis has been undertaken with the aim of understanding their embryonic origin from the dorsal head midline, developmental morphogenesis, and architecture. The PI, marked by its continued expression of the homeobox gene Dchx1, is derived from a placode located anteriorly in the neurectoderm of the dorso-medial head. Three additional placodes are situated posterior to the PI placode; one, marked by the expression of FasII, gives rise to a cluster of neurons that form the pars lateralis (PL), which represents the second domain within the brain that contains neurosecretory cells (Siegmund, 2001). The remaining two placodes express the homeobox gene drx (Davis, 2003) and become part of the protocerebum surrounding the PI and PL. This study further investigated the role in PI development of early acting signaling pathways (Dpp, EGFR) and transcription factors expressed in the dorso-medial head neurectoderm [tailless (tll), ventral nerve cord defective (vnd), single minded (sim); orthodenticle (otd)] and in the corpora cardiaca [sine oculis (so), glass (gl), forkhead (fkh)] in the PI placode. The findings provide a developmental genetic framework for the study of the Drosophila central neuroendocrine system (de Velasco, 2007).

Pars intercerebralis: structure and development during the postembryonic phase: To analyze the PI in Drosophila larvae, pupae, and adult, brains were used in which GFP was driven by Chat-Gal4, which is expressed in most differentiating neurons, including their axons. This staining visualized most, if not all neuronal cell bodies and their proximal axons that comprise the PI. The PI of the adult and 3 day pupa appears as an unpaired cluster of cell bodies filling the cleft between the brain hemispheres. At most positions along the antero-posterior axis, it is well demarcated from the lateral cortex by a glial lamella. The following will distinguish the anterior PI (PIa), located around the medial lobes of the mushroom body, from the central PI (PIc; dorsal to the central complex) and posterior PI (in between central complex and protocerebral bridge). Most PIa neurons are small and weakly Chat-GFP-positive; in addition, one can distinguish a subset of large, strongly Chat-GFP-positive somata with axons that pass through the superior medial protocerebrum and form the NccI nerve that projects to the ring gland. Based on their trajectory, these large neurons comprise the neurosecretory cells of the PI. The central PI (PIc) is comprised of neuronal somata that form a rather homogenous population in regard to size and Chat-GFP expression levels. Axons of PIc neurons turn laterally and appear to branch in the posterior part of the superior-medial protocerebrum (called DP compartment in the larva). Neurons of the posterior PI (PIp) are small and densely packed; many PIp neurons form axons that fasciculate in a fiber tract projecting straight ventrally and then anteriorly into the fan-shaped body. One cannot define a clear boundary between the PIp and the laterally/posteriorly adjacent protocerebral cortex (de Velasco, 2007).

It is clear from the above said that the PI is formed by neurons that contribute to many different brain circuits, and that much work is needed to elucidate the exact structure and function of these cells. Do all of these cells share a common origin? In other words, can one define one or more specific neural lineages whose cells exclusively contribute to the PI? And is there an ontogenetic relationship between the PI and the PL, the second cluster of neurosecretory cells that, without specific markers, cannot be recognized within the brain of the larva, pupa or adult? To approach these questions, the development of the PI was followed backward in time. In the early pupa and larva, all components of the PI defined in the previous section for the late pupa and adult can be recognized; however, they do not form an unpaired cluster in the brain midline, but are split into bilaterally symmetric clusters. Thus, as an anatomical entity, the pars intercerebralis does not exist in the larva, but evolves during the pupal period (de Velasco, 2007).

In the one day-old pupa, cells with the characteristics of the anterior PI (strongly Chat-GFP-positive neurons located dorsal of the medial lobes) form axons that branch in the DA and CA compartments and continue peripherally as the NccI nerve (Ncc stands for nervus corporis cardiaci). In the central PI, large, strongly Chat-GFP-positive cells cover the developing ellipsoid body and fan-shaped body. The same picture presents itself in the wandering larva. Besides their large size and high expression level of Chat-Gal4, neurons of the PIa and PIc are distinguished from the lateral cortex by lacking any Neurotactin expression. Neurotactin expression defines a distinct, transient stage in neural differentiation. Thus, all primary neuroblasts and neurons of the late embryonic brain express neurotactin, to then lose it in the early larva. When neuroblasts become reactivated and produce secondary neurons, these also express Neurotactin until mid-pupal stages. The fact that the larval PIa/c has no Neurotactin-positive cells tells us that this domain consists only of primary neurons, or is characterized by a distinct mode of Neurotactin expression that sets it apart from other neurons. In either case, it serves as a suitable global marker of the larval PIa/c. Using the neuron-specific marker Elav supports the view that the PIa/c consists mainly of primary neurons which can be distinguished from undifferentiated secondary neurons by their large cell and nuclear size: anti-Elav reveals large neurons in the PIa/c which contrast sharply from the small secondary neurons of the laterally adjacent cortex (de Velasco, 2007).

As expected from its adult and late pupal morphology, the posterior PI (PIp) is difficult to define with any confidence in the larval brain. Neurons in the posterior-medial cortex, around the emerging commissure of the lateral horn which served as a topological landmark for the PIp at later stages, have axons directed anteriorly towards the central complex primordium. These neurons, which should include the cells comprising the later PI, belong to several lineages of secondary neurons of the DPM group. Without more specific markers, it is not possible to ascertain exactly which DPM lineages produce the posterior PI, and whether these lineages contribute only to the PI, or to laterally adjacent parts of the brain as well (de Velasco, 2007).

Definition of the PIa/c as a expression domain of the homeobox gene Dchx: The vertebrate gene Chx10 (also called Vsx; Levine, 1994) appears in the anlage of the forebrain during neurulation and is later expressed and required for neurons of the retina. The Drosophila genome contains two closely associated Chx10 homologs, Dchx1 and Dchx2. Their expression profile shows similarities to the expression of their vertebrate counterparts. Dchx1 appears in the early anlage of the visual system (the optic lobe placode/optic anlage of the late embryo and larva), as well as in differentiating neurons of the optic lobe. In addition, Dchx1 is expressed in a dorso-medial domain of the brain that overlaps with the PIa/c, and at least in part, the PIc as defined above. Thus, large Dchx-positive primary neurons are located anterior and dorsal of the medial lobe of the mushroom body and are flanked by the secondary lineages of the DAM and DPMl groups, respectively. Based on these criteria, the Dchx-positive neurons are recognized as the larval PIa/c as described above. Dchx-positive primary neurons of the PIa/c can be followed backward in time through early larval stages. Posterior to the group of large PIa/c neurons, a cluster of small Dchx-positive cells are found that overlap with the group of DPMm lineages. It is speculated that these neurons represent the primordium of the posterior PI. As expected, the Dchx-positive secondary neurons of the PIp are born in the late larva, when DPM lineages (along with most other lineages of the central brain) proliferate. In early larval and embryonic brains, only few scattered Dchx-positive cells appear in the postero-medial brain (de Velasco, 2007).

The expression of GFP driven by a Dchx promoter construct (Landgraf, 2003) visualizes the projection pattern of the Dchx-positive neurons populating the PI. Most, if not all of these cells conform to a relatively simple commissural pattern, whereby axons cross in the anterior part of the supraesophageal commissure. Axonal and dendritic branches form a dense plexus that fills out the DA and CA compartments. A subset of PI neurons, notably those that co-express Drosophila insulin-like peptide (Dilp; Rulifson, 2002) form axons that leave the dorso-medial brain and project to the ring gland, as well as the subesophageal ganglion/tritocerebrum (de Velasco, 2007).

Neurosecretory cells targeting the ring gland lie within the PIa/c: The larval PI includes most, if not all, of the neurosecretory cells that project towards the corpora cardiaca/corpora allata through the NccI. Larval brains were labeled with antisera against Dilp, FMRFamide, and myomodulin. In all of these experiments, peptidergic neurons with axons to the ring gland were located in the Dchx-positive/neurotactin-negative PIa/c domain. Peptidergic axons branch in the CA/DA compartments, cross the midline, and then extend posterior, passing underneath the supraesophageal commissure. This nerve connection constitutes the NccI nerve. The axonal marker FasII reveals the NccI has already developed in the late embryo (Nassif, 2003). A second connection between the dorso-lateral protocerebrum and the ring gland, called NccII, also expresses FasII from embryonic stages onward. The FasII-positive neurons that give rise to the NccII are not part of the PI, but instead turn out to represent the Pars lateralis (PL), which occupies a position in the dorsal brain cortex, anteriorly adjacent to the calyx of the mushroom body. The NccII root emitted by the PL forms a conspicuous tract of the larval brain that passes the calyx and peduncle medially before reaching the medial edge of the protocerebrum where it joins the NccI on its way to the ring gland (de Velasco, 2007).

The PI and PL are derived from a series of neuroepithelial placodes in the embryonic head: The Dchx-expressing cells of the PIa/c can be followed into the early embryonic period when they form a narrow cluster of approximately 40-50 cells in the antero-medial procephalon, right behind the furrow that separates the procephalon from the clypeolabrum. Two similar-sized domains are labeled by FasII and the Drosophila Rx homolog, Drx. Together, these three markers define linearly arranged, non-overlapping domains along the dorsal midline of the procephalon. The Dchx domain will be called 'embryonic PIa/c'. During later embryogenesis, a global morphogenetic movement shifts all of these domains posteriorly; at the same time, the FasII and Drx-positive domains also move laterally. Dchx remains strongly expressed in a cohesive cluster that develops into the larval PIa/c. It is currently unclear whether the secondary neuroblast(s) that later give rise to the neurons of the PIp are derivatives of the PIa/c, or whether they are recruited from outside this domain. In late embryos, faintly Dchx-positive neurons and neuroblasts can be recognized outside the PIa/c (not shown) (de Velasco, 2007).

Cells of the FasII-positive domain give rise to the NccII and therefore constitute the embryonic primordium of the PL. In the late embryo, shortly before the somata of these neurons lose FasII expression, one can follow a FasII-positive axon tract from the FasII cluster towards the primordium of the ring gland. This tract represents the embryonic NccII, given that it exhibits the same topographical characteristics as the NccII of the larva (point of origin in postero-lateral protocerebrum; passing the mushroom body towards medially; joining nascent NccI towards ring gland) (de Velasco, 2007).

The PI, PL and Drx domains visible in the mid-stage embryo (stages 11-13) form neuroepithelial placodes that split by invagination from the procephalic ectoderm. This mode of neurogenesis differs from the mechanism of delamination that produces all other brain neuroblasts within the surrounding neurectoderm. The use of anti-Crumbs (anti-Crb) as a marker for apical membrane domains of epithelial cells reveals a stereotypic pattern of small invaginations in the dorso-medial procephalon of stage 12/13 embryos. The anterior invagination ('1') is formed/surrounded by Dchx-positive cells and corresponds to the PIa/c; the second, intermediate invagination ('2') lies in the FasII-positive PL, and two posterior invaginations, one medially ('3'), one further laterally ('4'), flank the Drx domain. During stage 13/14, the invaginations pinch off the surface ectoderm and form small vesicles in between the outer epithelium (the nascent head epidermis) and the brain surface (de Velasco, 2007).

Two additional markers, a reporter construct of the E(spl)m5 gene and the neuronal differentiation marker Elav, were used to further characterize the placodeally derived PI/PL and Drx domain. The 'dorsal head midline', a domain that, along with the midline of the trunk, is set apart from the lateral neurectoderm by the prolonged expression of the Notch target E(spl), as well as the expression of/dependence on EGFR signaling (Dumstrei, 1998). Triggered by Notch activation, E(spl) is expressed in the neurectoderm as long as this layer is 'active', i.e., produces neuroblasts. The phenomenon of prolonged E(spl) expression was interpreted by us as an indication for an extended period of neurogenic potential (de Velasco, 2007).

The previously defined dorsal head midline coincides with the PIa/c and PL, as evident from the double labeling experiments using the E(spl)-m5 reporter, anti-FasII and anti-Crb. E(spl)m5 is expressed in these domains throughout late embryogenesis into the early larval period. Furthermore, double-labeling with anti-Elav demonstrates that neuronal differentiation begins relatively late in these domains. Throughout stages 12, 13 and much of 14, the E(spl)m5-positive domains remain Elav-negative; Elav signal comes up faintly during stage 15, and only in the stage 16 embryo do most neurons of these domains express Elav (de Velasco, 2007).

The placodeally derived, Crb-positive vesicles remain visible at the brain surface until late embryogenesis (stage 16). Subsequently, the cells lose Crb expression; we assume that the intermediate and posterior vesicles ('2-4') convert into neurons that become incorporated in the brain, although this needs to be definitively shown. The anterior pair of vesicles ('1') appears to become incorporated into the corpora allata, the dorsal most part of the ring gland. The early development of this endocrine gland which secretes juvenile hormone during larval stages has not been clearly documented for Drosophila. In other insects, ectodermal placodes that invaginate from the ectoderm of gnathal segments were observed to give rise to both prothoracic glands (source of ecdysone) and corpora allata. The present data, which need to be substantiated by additional markers, indicate that at least part of the CA is derived from the PIa/c. Thus, in the late embryo, the anterior vesicles, still expressing Crb and E(spl)m5, approach each other and eventually fuse in the midline, forming a cluster of cells that moves posteriorly, behind the level of the brain commissure, and becomes incorporated into the dorsal part of the ring gland (de Velasco, 2007).

Genetic specification of the PI: The dorsal procephalic ectoderm that gives rise to the PI is patterned by several signaling pathways, in particular the Dpp and DER pathway. Furthermore, the head gap genes tailless (tll) and orthodenticle (otd) are expressed in the dorsal procephalon. The Tll expression domain includes the PI/PL placodes; these placodes, on the other hand, are not part of the Otd domain. The midline determinant Single minded (Sim) is expressed faintly from stage 13 onward in a subset of cells in the PI primordium. Ventral nerve cord defective (Vnd) is expressed in a longitudinal medial domain of the ventral neurectoderm flanking the mesectoderm. The paramedian stripe of Vnd expression continues in the head, but ends laterally/ventrally of the PI/PL (de Velasco, 2007).

Loss of Dpp results in the absence of the dorso-medial head epidermis that in wild-type separates the bilateral PI anlagen from each other. The PI anlagen are enlarged and fused in the dorsal midline. In DER mutants, Dchx expression is virtually absent, supporting the previously reported finding (Dumstrei, 1998) that the dorso-medial procephalic ectoderm ('dorsal head midline') requires DER signaling. Dchx is also eliminated in tll mutants, but is present, if possibly reduced, in embryos mutant for otd and other head gap genes (de Velasco, 2007).

Aside from these genes, which are expressed in the PI anlage, the possibility was tested of inductive interactions between the PI and neighboring tissues, in particular the foregut and stomatogastric nervous system (which transiently contacts the dorso-medial procephalic ectoderm) and the corpora cardiaca, which receive axons from the PI derived neurons. To remove the foregut, a null mutation was used in the fkh gene; the stomatogastric nervous system was eliminated by a mutation in so, and the corpora cardiaca by a mutation in gl. The results indicate that none of these genetic manipulations grossly affects the formation of the PI. The gl null mutation survives until the late larval period, which gave an the opportunity to analyze the structure and innervation of the ring gland that lacks the corpora cardiaca. Both Dilp and FasII-positive axons reach the ring gland and send axons towards the corpora allata, the dorsal part of the ring gland, which is unaffected in gl mutants. The only abnormality in ring gland innervation was the defasciculation and aberrant projection of FasII and FMRFamide-positive axons. In particular, FasII-positive axons frequently followed Dilp fibers onto the dorsal vessel, a behavior not observed in wild-type. The number of FMRFamide-positive axons reaching the corpora allata was reduced (de Velasco, 2007).

Definition of the pars intercerebralis and pars lateralis in Drosophila: According to the classical anatomical definition that applies to adult insect brains, one can recognize the PI as an unpaired cluster of neuronal cell bodies located along the dorsal midline of the brain. In its anterior and intermediate part (PIa/c), the pars intercerebralis is clearly set apart from the adjacent lateral cortex by a glial lamella; at posterior levels, the boundary between the PI and neighboring cortex domains is fluid. The PI is comprised of several hundreds of neuronal cell bodies that include as a relatively small minority large NSCs with axonal projections to the ring gland. The PI as an unpaired midline structure appears first during the late pupal phase. Before that stage, cells of the PI form bilateral clusters in the dorso-medial cortex of both brain hemispheres. Two criteria allowed recognition the PI at these stages and follow it backward into the embryonic period. One was the expression of the homeobox gene Dchx1, the other the idiosyncratic proliferatory properties of the PI primordium. Dchx1 is expressed in bilateral placodes in the antero-medial neurectoderm of the early embryonic head. These placodes form the early primordium of the PI. In the late embryo, they move interiorly and become part of the dorso-medial brain cortex. During later larval stages, the PI primordium, aside from the continued expression of Dchx1, sets itself apart from the lateral cortex by the absence of stem cell-like neuroblasts producing secondary lineages. Instead, the PI primordium appears to grow, at a rather slow rate, by symmetric cell division. During metamorphosis, the cortex and neuropile of the brain hemispheres fuse, giving rise to the unpaired median PI and central complex (de Velasco, 2007).

As often in development, it is difficult to state with any certainty whether the boundaries of the PI as defined in the adult coincide precisely with those visible earlier. In other words, it cannot be presently stated with any certainty that the sharp PI boundary defined, in the adult and late pupal brain, by glial septa coincides with the Dchx-positive cluster of the embryo and larva. It can be said, however, that many, if not all, of neurosecretory cells of the classically defined PI fall within the Dchx-expressing cell cluster. This was demonstrated in this study for Dilp, FMRFamide, and myomodulin; it can be said confidentlt that the NSCs of the PI expressing other peptides (Siegmund, 2001) will also be included within the Dchx-positive domain (de Velasco, 2007).

The pars lateralis (PL) has been defined as a cluster of NSCs that lie outside the PI, and whose peripherally projecting axons form the NccII. The NccII can be recognized from early embryonic stages onward by its expression of the adhesion molecule FasII. The FasII-positive cells that give rise to the NccII, and that therefore should be considered as the primordium of the PL, are derived from a neurectodermal placode located posteriorly adjacent to the placode that forms the PI. It may be significant that both PI and PL, the centers including neurosecretory cells, are derived from placodeal neurectoderm (de Velasco, 2007).

A third set of placodes appear in the dorso-medial protocerebral neurectoderm, posterior to the FasII-positive PL placode. The posterior placodes, at least partially, overlap with the main expression domain of the homeobox gene Drx. Drx-positive cells forming within this region can be followed into the larval stage. They spread out over a relatively large area of the dorso-posterior cortex. The expression of Drx may be significant given the fact that the vertebrate homolog of this gene is expressed and required in the primordium of the hypothalamus. However, in Drosophila, the relationship of the posterior placodes and their Drx-positive derivatives to the PI/PL is not clear. It is possible that non-ring gland-associated NSCs are derived from it; in addition, the drx-positive neurons may be functionally and anatomically closely connected to the PI/PL (de Velasco, 2007).

Origin of PI/PL from neurectodermal placodes: This paper has shown that the PI/PL originate as placodes from the dorso-medial neurectoderm of the head, in a way that is similar to the formation of the optic lobe. In all of these cases, small domains of the neurectoderm are seen which, during stages 10 or early 11 of development, adopt the shape of placodes, with cells elongating in the apico-basal axis and expressing a higher level of apical markers such as Crb at their apical surface. Eventually, all of these placodes invaginate and sever their connection to the ectoderm several hours after their initial appearance (stages 12-13). Subsequently, cells of the placodes lose their epithelial phenotype and directly turn into neural cells (as in the case of the PI placode, or the SNS placodes), or give rise to neuroblasts (as in the case of the optic lobe). In addition, during the interval between their first appearance and invagination, the placodes give rise to 'early neural progenitors' which delaminate from the surface and move inside. For example, the optic lobe placode gives rise to at least four neuroblasts that delaminate during stage 11 and then proliferate, like all other neuroblasts, in a stem cell-like manner. Similarly, individual neurons delaminate from the SNS placodes before these structures invaginate. It is considered likely that the dorso-medial placodes described in this study also give rise to several neuroblasts (de Velasco, 2007).

Most neurons of the insect brain are formed as part of fixed lineages, each lineage being produced by a stem cell-like neuroblast. Neuroblasts delaminate as individual cells, or small clusters of cells, from the neurectoderm, leaving behind other cells that then become specified and differentiate as epidermal cells. This peculiar mode of neural cell birth and proliferation is a derived feature found in insects and many crustaceans; it is not present in taxa considered basal in the arthropods, and taxa outside the arthropods. Early neurogenesis in chelicerates, myriapods and chilopods have recently been analyzed, and led to the interesting discovery that in these animals, the neurectoderm produces a large array of small placodes which subsequently invaginate and (after some additional rounds of mitosis) turn into the neurons and glial cells of the ventral nerve cord and brain. In terms of number and pattern, the placodes are comparable to the array of neuroblasts in insects, leading to the speculation that one might be able to define homologies between individual placodes and neuroblasts. To go a step further, one could speculate that at the root of arthropods, the neurectoderm was subdivided into a mosaic of small domains, each of which invaginated as a placode to then give rise to a specific part of the CNS. In time, this mode of neurogenesis was supplanted by the 'invention' of stem cell-like neuroblasts: instead of the entire placode invaginating, a single (or a few) cell(s) was selected from the placode at an early stage which then delaminated and continued to proliferate in an asymmetrical, stem cell-like manner. If this interpretation of neuroblasts vs. placodes among arthropods is correct, one would have to conclude that the occurrence of placodes along the ventral midline and head midline (as well the stomatogastric nervous system and optic lobe) of insects represents the phylogenetically older mode of neurogenesis. Likewise (and this notion is of course even more speculative), one could argue that molecular mechanisms at work in these placodes or the function of brain parts derived from them is phylogenetically more ancient compared to structures developing from neuroblasts. The same rationale has traditionally been put forward to argue that the 'fringe domains' of the cerebral cortex, including the archicortex (hippocampus) and paleocortex (entorhinal cortex) constitute the phylogenetically older regions of the mammalian brain (de Velasco, 2007).

Pars intercerebralis and hypothalamus: Similarities between the neuroendocrine system of vertebrates and arthropods on the structural, functional and developmental level have been emphasized in many previous studies. In both vertebrates and arthropods, the highest command center of the neuroendocrine system is comprised of groups of NSCs located in the brain; these cells, besides innervating brain centers and thereby influencing neural circuits as 'neuromodulators', send their axons to peripheral neurohemal glands in which the hormones produced by the NSCs are stored and released. In vertebrates, neurosecretory cells are located in the hypothalamus. The endocrine gland they act upon is the pituitary. The corresponding structures in arthropods would be the PI/PL and their peripheral targets, the CC/CA, respectively. The main hormone produced by the CC is adipokinetic hormone (AKH) that mobilizes lipids and carbohydrates from the fat body (see Van der Horst, 2001). AKH shares common functions with the vertebrate hormone glucagon that is produced in endocrine cells of the pancreas, as well as peptidergic neurons in the brain. AKH also shows some sequence similarity with the N-terminus of glucagons. Similar and possibly homologous to the relationship between Drosophila insulin-like peptides and AKH (Kim, 2004), the function of glucagon in vertebrates is antagonized by insulin. Insulin itself is expressed like glucagon in the endocrine pancreas, but a whole family of insulin-like growth factors is found in hypothalamic NSCs. Other neuropeptides found in NSCs of hypothalamus and PI alike are FMRFamides and tachykinins. Also, the sequence similarity between vertebrate CRF and insect CRF-like diuretic hormone deserves attention in this context. Here we might look at a scenario where ancestrally a peptide directly exerted a diuretic effect, a condition maintained in the arthropod line of evolution; in the line of evolution leading up to chordates, other hormones (ACTH, aldosterone) were 'interpolated' between the original peptide (CRF) and the action on excretory cells (de Velasco, 2007).

Developmental similarities between vertebrate hypothalamus and arthropod PI are also strong. The anlagen of the pituitary and hypothalamus are neighboring structures within the anterior neural plate. Cells that will give rise to the anterior lobe of the pituitary (adenohypophysis) are anteriorly adjacent to the cells which will become the hypothalamus and the posterior pituitary. Numerous signals were found to be involved in delimiting the anlage of the neuroendocrine system within the anterior neural plate; they include Sonic hedgehog (Shh), members of the bone morphogenetic protein family (BMP7), and fibroblast growth factor family (FGF4/8). Among the molecular determinants that are switched on by these signaling pathways are the homeobox genes six3/6 and Rx, the paired-box genes pax6 and Nkx2.1/2, the PAS-bHLH gene sim1, and the orphan nuclear receptor Tlx. Genes acting further downstream in determining specific hypothalamic cell fates are POU III-related homeobox genes Brn-1, 2, and 4. It has been shown that loss-of-function mutant mice lacking Brn-2 do not develop part of the hypothalamus; Sim1 knock-out mutations in mice cause a similar phenotype to that one for Brn-2 (de Velasco, 2007 and references therein).

This study has shown that homologs of three of the transcription factors expressed in the anlage of the vertebrate hypothalamus also appear in or adjacent to the anlage of the Drosophila PI/PL: the Nkx2.1/2 homolog vnd, the Sim1 homolog sim, and the Rx homolog Drx. In addition, the Six3/6 homolog optix also appears to overlap with the PI/PL of the st.11 embryo. The role of these Drosophila genes in PI development awaits further study. A previous paper (DeVelasco, 2004; see Embryonic development of the corpus cardiacum, a component of the ring gland) has shown that the Six1 homolog sine oculis (so) is expressed and required for the formation of the CC and the ontogenetically closely related stomatogastric nervous system. In contrast, counterpart(s) of Dchx1, the gene that is expressed strongly and continuously throughout Drosophila PI development, apparently do not play a role in neuroendocrine development in vertebrates. Detailed expression studies of Chx10/Vsx1 documented that this gene is expressed in numerous tissues outside of the retina, notably the ventral hindbrain, the diencephalic-mesencephalic boundary, and the epithalamus (Liu, 1994). However, neither expression nor function of Chx10/Vsx1 in the ventral diencephalon has been reported (de Velasco, 2007).

In conclusion, this study presents evidence for a number of conserved properties in the way the progenitors of the central neuroendocrine system in vertebrate and Drosophila embryos are spatially laid out, and employ cassettes of signaling pathways and fate determinants. One may speculate that there existed in the common bilaterian ancestor a simple anterior brain with which sensory afferents and groups of neurosecretory cells were associated. These cells might have played pivotal roles in feeding behavior (olfactory/gustatory perception of food sources; feed back information from the intestinal tract and body cavity regarding the degree of urgency of feeding) and reproductive behavior, and could have evolved into the much more complex neuroendocrine systems that is found in today's highly derived bilateria, such as insects and vertebrates (de Velasco, 2007).

The origin of islet-like cells in Drosophila identifies parallels to the vertebrate endocrine axis

Single-cell resolution lineage information is a critical key to understanding how the states of gene regulatory networks respond to cell interactions and thereby establish distinct cell fates. This study identified a single pair of neural stem cells (neuroblasts) as progenitors of the brain insulin-producing neurosecretory cells of Drosophila, which are homologous to islet β cells. Likewise, a second pair of neuroblasts was identified as progenitors of the neurosecretory Corpora cardiaca cells, which are homologous to the glucagon-secreting islet α cells. Both progenitors originate as neighboring cells from anterior neuroectoderm, which expresses genes orthologous to those expressed in the vertebrate adenohypophyseal placode, the source of endocrine anterior pituitary and neurosecretory hypothalamic cells. This ontogenic-molecular concordance suggests that a rudimentary brain endocrine axis was present in the common ancestor of humans and flies, where it orchestrated the islet-like endocrine functions of insulin and glucagon biology (Wang, 2007).

The principal insulin producing-cells (IPCs) in higher metazoans, such as flies and mammals, direct organismal growth, metabolism, aging, and reproduction via a conserved signal transduction pathway. Gut- or pancreas-based IPCs, with endodermal origin, emerged as the principal IPC locus with the evolution of lower vertebrates such as the jawless fish. In contrast, the principal IPCs of invertebrates are found in the nervous system and are likely of ectodermal origin. Despite this difference, the possibility that gene regulatory modules may be conserved for cell fate programming the principal IPCs of all higher animals, irrespective of germ layer origin, has led the development of islet-like cells to be addressed in Drosophila (Wang, 2007).

Brain IPCs in Drosophila were first recognized by their expression of insulin (Drosophila insulin-like peptide, Dilp2) at the end of embryonic development. The goal of this work was to understand the developmental origin of these cells. The absence of morphological and vital markers for identifying brain neuroblasts for dye-labeled lineage tracing necessitated the combined use of mosaic analysis to demonstrate lineage relationships and immunohistology to follow cell identities. In this study, 16 molecular lineage markers corresponding to conserved genes were used to follow cells in fixed embryos. To identify genes involved in early IPC lineage development, before the differentiation of IPCs, 650 transposable GAL4-transgene insertions, obtained from public collections, that reported gene enhancer activity (GAL4 enhancer traps) in the CNS, were screened. Enhancer-driven GAL4 activity was used to trigger heritable and irreversible lineage labeling, which was assayed for coexpression with Dilp2 in late larval brains, thereby identifying lineage markers and potential developmental determinants. It was found that enhancers near the genes dachshund (dac), eyeless (ey), optix, and tiptop (tio) each triggered IPC lineage labeling by the time of Dilp2 expression onset just before hatching (late-stage 17). tio enhancer-triggered labeling was highly specific to the IPCs within the pars intercerebrallis (PI), the dorsomedial brain region harboring the IPCs and other neurosecretory cells. Antibody staining of Dac, Ey, and Optix proteins recapitulated enhancer reporter labeling and revealed expression in the tio⁺ cell cluster in late-stage embryos just after IPC differentiation, and before IPC differentiation at early-stage 17. Thus, a bilateral cluster of 10-12 Dac⁺ Ey⁺ cells were identified, 6-8 of which expressed tio before continuing on to express insulin (Dilp2) slightly later in development (Wang, 2007).

The hypothesis was tested that the Dac⁺ Ey⁺ cluster is generated by the proliferation of a single neuroblast. The pre-Dilp2 Dac⁺ Ey⁺ cluster comprised 10-12 cells at stage 17, but only a single Dac⁺ cell at stage 12, suggesting that a lineage expanded from a single progenitor beginning at stage 12. The Dac⁺ cluster maintains a posterior and lateral position within the anterior PI, identified by dChx1 expression, which allows following it during the morphogenetic changes in the developing brain. To mark progenitors and their lineage descendants, stage 11-12 embryos harboring both a heat-shock promoter-flip recombinase (hsp70-flp) transgene and an FRT-mediated flip-out Actin promoter-LacZ reporter were heat-shocked to induce random clone marking events in cell lineages. After aging embryos for 6 h at 25°C to reach stage 16-17, marked clusters of clonally related cells were occasionally recovered that comprised the 10-12 cell Dac⁺ Ey⁺ cluster. Clones that partly labeled the Dac⁺ Ey⁺ cluster, which were posterior in the cluster, were interpreted as being labeled by a lineage marking event induced after the neuroblast had divided one or more times. It was unlikely that multiple marking events accounted for the apparent clonal labeling of IPCs because the frequency of marked clone induction was extremely low (tens per brain). Clones were also found that labeled neighboring cells, but do not label Dac⁺ Ey⁺ cells, suggesting there is a lineage restriction that defined the Dac⁺ Ey⁺ cluster. Thus, all data are consistent with a lineage model whereby one neuroblast produced 10-12 Dac⁺ Ey⁺ cells, 6-8 of which were IPCs (Wang, 2007).

Whether the single Dac⁺ cell progenitor of IPCs seen at stage 12 was indeed a neuroblast was further tested by using markers of neuroblast lineage development. Asymmetrically dividing neuroblasts can be identified by nuclear expression of the pan-neuroblast marker Deadpan (Dpn) and Prospero (Pros) localization to the plasma membrane. It was found that the single Dac⁺ cell expressed Dpn and also showed Pros localization at the plasma membrane, which indicated that it was a neuroblast. As the Dac⁺ cluster increased in cell number with age, it was found that Pros was present in the nucleus of Dac⁺ cells anterior to the Dac⁺ neuroblast, which indicated that these were the neuroblast daughter cells, or ganglion mother cells (GMCs) generated by asymmetric neuroblast divisions. By stage 14, the most anterior Dac⁺ cells in the cluster lacked Dpn and Pros, suggesting that they were early, undifferentiated neurons or neurosecretory cells generated by GMC cell divisions. It was also found that tio expression occurs in the most anterior Dac⁺ cells of the lineage group, furthest from the posterior-located Dac⁺ neuroblast, suggesting that the six to eight IPCs are the products of the first three to four GMCs to be generated by asymmetric neuroblast division. This observation confirmed the interpretation of the marked clone data that showed partial labeling by a clone occupies the posterior, more recently formed region of the Dac⁺ Ey⁺ cluster, near the IPC neuroblast. Thus, a histological pattern of cell identities and divisions within the Dac⁺ IPC lineage group was observed that was consistent with the generic lineage development of a single neuroblast, with the IPCs being produced from the first three to four GMCs formed (Wang, 2007).

Further attempts were made to identify the precise origin of the IPC neuroblast within the neuroectoderm epithelium and the blastoderm embryo to place this lineage in the context of early axial patterning. The IPC neuroblast was first recognized by Dac expression only after neuroblast formation, but before its first division. However, preceding the formation of the IPC neuroblast, the markers Castor (Cas) and dChx1 and the proneural factor Lethal of Scute (L'Sc) showed coexpression in eight nearby cells of the neuroectoderm epithelium. Cas and dChx1 were maintained in all neuroblast lineages that delaminated from this group, as indicated by coexpression of Dpn. The IPC neuroblast was the only neuroblast from this group to express Dac, and it was always the first Dpn⁺ neuroblast to delaminate, becoming the most posterior in a chain of delaminating Cas⁺ dChx1⁺ neuroblasts. The Cas⁺ dChx1⁺ L'Sc⁺ proneural group lies within a 'gap gene' head stripe corresponding to the Bicoid responsive giant head stripe 1 (gt1), which suggested that the IPC neuroblast, or its earliest progenitor, arose from this pattern element of the precellular blastoderm (Wang, 2007).

β Cell and α cell development in mammals shares a largely common pathway. Thus attempts were made to study the origin of the α-like cells in Drosophila and their development relative to the IPC lineage. Corpora cardiaca (CC) cells are analogous in function to islet α cells (Kim, 2004). These neuroendocrine cells reside in the endocrine ring gland, just dorsal to the brain. CC cells produce and secrete a glucagon-like peptide, adipokinetic hormone, in response to circulating glucose levels, via a conserved K_atp sensor. The gene glass (gl) is a marker of CC cells and their precursors that specifically labels the CC lineage beginning at stage 10. The Gl⁺ group of cells expands in number to form a bilateral pair of six to eight cell clusters, aligned at the border of the brain and the developing foregut (stage 13). The Gl⁺ clusters then migrated out of the protocerebrum (stage 14), and posterior along the roof of the pharynx, to ultimately coalesce at the midline within the prospective ring gland (stage 16). Remarkably, the first Gl⁺ cells appeared a single cell diameter apart from the dChx1⁺ cluster containing the IPC neuroblast, also within the gt1 stripe (Wang, 2007).

These results suggested that the CC cell lineage, like the IPC lineage, is also generated from a progenitor within the gt1⁺ dorsal neuroectoderm. Indeed, a neuroblast progenitor for CC cells was suggested by expression of a Kruppel reporter (Kr-GFP) found to specifically label the Gl⁺ cells and an adjacent cell that both was Dpn⁺ and showed membrane localized Pros, indicating that it was a neuroblast. As for IPCs, tests were made to see if CC cells are derived from a single progenitor, perhaps the Kr-GFP⁺ neuroblast. Gl⁺ β-gal⁺-marked clones were recovered that comprised all or part of a CC cell cluster, after their migration to the prospective ring gland at stage 16. Because labeled CC cells had moved from their point of origin in the developing PI, it could not be determine whether a progenitor also produced other cells besides the CC cells, which did not similarly migrate. Together, these observations suggest that the CC cells are related by lineage to a neuroblast progenitor (Wang, 2007).

Typically, neuroblasts inherit the expression of cell specification factors from their point of origin in the patterned neuroectoderm before the neuroblast forms. It was found that this was the case with the IPC neuroblast, which retains dChx1 and Cas expression from the neuroectoderm. It was therefore hypothesized that this may also be the case for the CC cell neuroblast. CC cell specification was shown to require the function of gt, sine oculis (so), twist (twi), and snail (sna). Indeed, it was found that all of these factors are expressed in the Gl⁺ CC cell lineage. Moreover, the Kr-GFP⁺ cell group, containing the neuroblast and CC cell precursors, also expressed Eyes absent (Eya), the cognate protein tyrosine phosphatase of So. It was subsequently found that at stage 10, the time that Gl⁺ cells are first detected, a region of gt1⁺ neurectoderm shows expression of So. It was also found that one to two So⁺ gt1⁺ neuroblasts can be detected by labeling with Dpn at this stage. Thus, it is proposed that the So⁺ Eya⁺ gt1⁺ neuroectoderm gives rise to the Kr-GFP⁺ So⁺ Eya⁺ gt1⁺ neuroblast, which is the single progenitor of the CC cells (Wang, 2007).

The model of a dorsal neurectoderm origin for CC cells is in disagreement with another extant model. The anterior ventral furrow (AVF) epithelium was suggested to be the CC cell origin based on gene expression and function studies implicating So, Gt, Twi, and Sna in CC cell formation. To distinguish between the AVF and dorsal neuroectoderm as possible origins of CC cells, two newly available gt promoter fragment reporters were used whose expression persists late enough in development, beyond endogenous protein and transcript expression, to serve as a coarse-grain lineage marker of CC cells. The AVF is marked by the gt23 reporter, whose expression is limited to the two gt head stripes posterior to gt1 at the blastoderm stage. This reporter does not label the Gl⁺ cells. However, as has been shown, the Gl⁺ cells arise in the context of the most anterior gt head stripe, gt1, which reaffirms the proposed origin from the gt1⁺ neuroectoderm (Wang, 2007).

The organization of this gt1⁺ segment-derived proendocrine neuroectoderm was investigated with respect to the conserved factors Optix, So, Eya, and dChx1. Optix and Eya expression aligned with the gt1 reporter expression domain. The D-six4 gene also shows expression specific to this domain. Labeling studies showed that this domain is subdivided into several small compartments of 2-12 cells with discrete gene expression profiles. The data indicate that the IPC neuroblast was derived from compartment B (Optix⁺, dChx1⁺, Cas⁺, So^-, low-level Eya) and the CC cell neuroblast arose from the adjacent compartment C (Optix⁺, So⁺, Eya⁺, dChx1^-). This somewhat surprising finding suggests that the largely common developmental pathway of β and α cells may be partly conserved in Drosophila, perhaps with respect to a domain of Sine oculis/Six family and Eya gene expression (Wang, 2007).

The early expression of the mouse ortholog of the Drosophila homeodomain gene optix, Six6, demarcates the hypophyseal placode and infundibular region, which give rise to the anterior pituitary and neurosecretory hypothalamus, respectively. Mutation of the Six6 gene leads to reduction of the pituitary in mice and humans. The hypophyseal placode and adjacent ectoderm also expresses the other so-called 'placode genes,' Six1, Six4, and Eya, and this coexpression pattern is conserved in amphibians, fish, and lower chordates such as ascidians. In mice, the anterior pituitary is reduced in size in the double mutant of Eya1 and Six1, and in zebrafish, Eya1 is essential for differentiation of all pituitary cell types except for prolactin-expressing cells. In Drosophila, So and Eya are essential for CC cell formation. Thus, there is a striking conservation of the molecular signature of tissues that give rise to elements of the brain endocrine axis in flies, mammals, lower vertebrates, and lower chordates (Wang, 2007).

There are also parallels between vertebrate and fly with respect to tissue morphogenesis within the developing brain endocrine system and adjacent oral ectoderm, although there appears to be considerable variation on a general theme. For example, in mouse, the progenitors of the anterior pituitary and neurosecretory hypothalamus appear to arise respectively from Rathke's pouch, an invagination of the oral ectoderm, and the neurectoderm, which do not start as neighboring regions, but come into direct contact only after neurulation. However, in the zebrafish, which does not form a Rathke's pouch, the progenitors of the anterior pituitary and neurosecretory hypothalamic cells (GnRH1⁺) arise from neighboring regions of the hypohyseal placode, which is situated directly dorsal to the stomodeal ectoderm. In Drosophila, the ventral cells of the gt1⁺ Optix⁺ Eya⁺ ectoderm invaginate to form the roof of the pharynx, the fly's oral ectoderm, whereas the dorsal cells contribute to the endocrine axis. Therefore, there is considerable evidence for evolutionarily conservation of the close relationship between the oral ectoderm and the developing compartments of the endocrine axis, all of which express the hypophyseal placode genes. The gene expression profile and specification of endocrine cell functions from the anterior ectoderm appears to be more 'fixed' across the bilateria, whereas the pattern of accompanying tissue morphogenesis and diversity of cell types is more variable, just as has been demonstrated for the specification of the bilaterian CNS, eye, gut, and heart (Wang, 2007).

The model proposed in this study contrasts with the prior suggestion, based on the proximity of developing CC cells to the posterior foregut in the moth, Manduca, that CC cells originate from neurogenic placodes of the foregut that engender the stomatogastric nervous system. Because CC cell progenitors were not identified in those studies, and subsequent mutational analysis in Drosophila demonstrated that the CC cells develop independently of the stomatogastric nervous system and posterior foregut, it is suggested that the current model of CC cell origin is the most strongly supported (Wang, 2007).

It is proposed that the brain endocrine systems of invertebrates and vertebrates are derived from a common ancestry because they both develop from a domain of Eya and sine oculis/Six family gene expression that comprises the anterior neuroectoderm and adjacent oral ectoderm. Indeed, these results extend prior observations that the neurosecretory cells of the PI and ring gland show other aspects of homology to the hypothalamic-pituitary axis. The specification of islet-like cells within a conserved brain endocrine axis raises the intriguing possibility that islet organogenesis, which is a derived feature of vertebrates, may have coopted brain endocrine cis-regulatory modules for specification of islet fates in endoderm. Indeed, the ectopic expression of the nominal rat insulin promoter reporter in anterior pituitary and hypothalamus underscores the similar gene regulatory state of these endocrine tissues. It is expected that further genetic analysis of endocrine cell fate specification within the gt1 domain of Drosophila will lead to insights into the patterning and organogenesis of endocrine compartments and provide the basis for identifying conserved pan-IPC regulatory modules with relevance to mammalian systems (Wang, 2007).

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date revised: 21 June 2008

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