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KEYNOTE SPEAKER
Isabel Beets
(KU Leuven)
"Neuromodulation by wireless neuropeptidergic signaling networks"
Zels, S., Watteyne, J., Ripoll-Sanchez, L., Vandewyer, E., Schafer, W.R., Vértes, P.E., Mirabeau, O., Schoofs, L., Beets, I.
Neuropeptides are widespread in all nervous systems and constitute an extrasynaptic signaling network by binding to a variety of G protein-coupled receptors (GPCRs). These wireless neuromodulatory interactions are critical to the function of all animal brains and regulate almost all behaviors and physiological processes. To probe the structure and function of the peptidergic signaling network, we have mapped the peptide-GPCR network in the nematode C. elegans. Due to its compact and well-defined nervous system, C. elegans provides an attractive model to functionally characterize the neuropeptidergic network. Using reverse pharmacology, we have identified 461 cognate peptide-GPCR couples in C. elegans, many of which are evolutionarily conserved between the wormand other animals. These peptide-GPCR pairs are organized in a broad signaling network that exhibits a high density of connections, with specific and combinatorial interactions encoded across and within single peptidergic genes. The topology of the neuropeptide network also differs from that of other signaling networks, such as synaptic connectomes. We are using this map along with in vivo sensors for GPCR activity to better understand the functional organization and the plasticity of neuropeptidergic networks. This neuropeptide connectome lays a foundation for system-level analysis of neuropeptidergic modulation.
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