Expression of surface glycoproteins early in leech neural development

Regeneration and asexual reproduction share common molecular changes: upregulation of a neural glycoepitope during morphallaxis in Lumbriculus

Neural morphallaxis is a regenerative process characterized by wide-spread anatomical and physiological changes in an adult nervous system. During segmental regeneration of the annelid worm, Lumbriculus variegatus, neural morphallaxis involved a reorganization of sensory, interneuronal, and motor systems as posterior fragments gained a more anterior body position. A monoclonal antibody, Lan 3-2, which labels a neural glyco-domain in the leech, was reactive in Lumbriculus. In the worm, this antibody labeled neural structures, particularly axonal tracts and giant fiber pathways of the central nervous system. A 60kDa protein, possessing a lumbriculid mannose-rich glycoepitope, was upregulated during neural morphallaxis, peaking in its expression at 3 weeks post-amputation. Peak upregulation of the Lan 3-2 epitope, or the protein possessing it, corresponded to the time of major neurobehavioral plasticity during regeneration. Analyses of asexually reproducing animals also revealed induction of the Lan 3-2 epitope. In this developmental context, Lan 3-2 epitope upregulation was also confined to segments expressing both changes in positional identity and neurobehavioral plasticity, but these molecular and behavioral changes occurred prior to body fragmentation. These results suggest that the lumbriculid Lan 3-2 glycoepitope and proteins that bear them have been co-opted for neural morphallactic programs, induced both in anticipation of reproductive fragmentation and in compensation for injury-induced fragmentation.

Mannose-specific recognition mediates two aspects of synaptic growth of leech sensory afferents: collateral branching and proliferation of synaptic vesicle clusters

The developmental role of carbohydrate markers in the genesis of neuronal networks was studied using leech sensory afferents as a model. Leech sensory afferents express a mannose-containing epitope on their cell surface that is recognized by monoclonal antibody Lan3-2. Previously, the elaboration of sensory arbors in the synaptic neuropil of CNS ganglia was experimentally shown to depend on this mannose marker. Sensory arbors were abolished by perturbing sensory afferents in the intact nervous system with Lan3-2 Fab fragments, a glycosidase, or mannose-BSA. To understand the cytological mechanisms underlying mannose-specific recognition for synaptogenesis, we have now studied the effects of antibody perturbation at the ultrastructural level in the sensory afferent target region. A characteristic signature of a normal sensory afferent is its profuse collateral branching, which, with ongoing development, is replaced by a single widened process, the sensory trunk, which possesses numerous synaptic vesicle clusters. The inhibition of mannose-specific recognition leads to a rapid, major reorganization of different stages of sensory afferent growth. Collateral branches at the distal growing region are reduced three- to fourfold. The pruned axons grow at an accelerated rate. Developmentally older sensory trunks experience a threefold reduction in synaptic vesicle clusters. These responses suggest that depriving sensory afferents of mannose-specific recognition aborts their synaptogenesis and causes them to resume behavior typical of tracking through axonal tracts. The current findings also suggest that the mannose marker, by promoting both collateral branching andthe proliferation of synaptic vesicle clusters, plays a critical role in two stages of sensory afferent synaptogenesis.

Differential glycosylation of tractin and LeechCAM, two novel Ig superfamily members, regulates neurite extension and fascicle formation

By immunoaffinity purification with the mAb Lan3-2, we have identified two novel Ig superfamily members, Tractin and LeechCAM. LeechCAM is an NCAM/FasII/ApCAM homologue, whereas Tractin is a cleaved protein with several unique features that include a PG/YG repeat domain that may be part of or interact with the extracellular matrix. Tractin and LeechCAM are widely expressed neural proteins that are differentially glycosylated in sets and subsets of peripheral sensory neurons that form specific fascicles in the central nervous system. In vivo antibody perturbation of the Lan3-2 glycoepitope demonstrates that it can selectively regulate extension of neurites and filopodia. Thus, these experiments provide evidence that differential glycosylation can confer functional diversity and specificity to widely expressed neural proteins.

Initial formation and secondary condensation of nerve pathways in the medicinal leech

Invertebrates have proved to be important experimental systems for examining questions related to growth cone navigation and nerve formation, in large part because of their simpler nervous systems. However, such apparent simplicity can be deceiving because the final stereotyped patterns may be the result of multiple developmental mechanisms and not necessarily the sole consequence of the pathway choices of individual growth cones. We have examined the normal sequence of events that are involved in the formation of the major peripheral nerves in leech embryos by employing (1) an antibody directed against acetylated tubulin to label neurons growing out from the central nervous system, (2) the Lan3-2 antibody to label a specific population of peripheral neurons growing into the central nervous system, and (3) intracellular dye filling of single cells. We found that the mature pattern of nerves was characterized by a pair of large nerve roots, each of which branched into two major tracts. The earliest axonal projections did not, however, establish this pattern definitively. Rather, each of the four nerves initially formed as discrete, roughly parallel tracts without bifurcation, with the final branching pattern of the nerve roots being generated by a secondary condensation. In addition, we found that some of the nerves were pioneered in different ways and by different groups of neurons. One of the nerves was established by central neurons growing peripherally, another by peripheral neurons growing centrally. These results suggest that the formation of common nerves and neuronal pathfinding in the leech involves multiple sets of growth cone guidance strategies and morphogenetic mechanisms that belie its apparent simplicity.

Cell-cell interactions define the innervation patterns of central leech neurons during development

In the last 20 years, the nervous system of the developing leech has been used to great advantage to study the processes by which neurons seek and finally innervate their targets. This review summarizes what is presently known about how neurons of the CNS interact with each other and with their targets during embryogenesis.

Targeting of neuronal subsets mediated by their sequentially expressed carbohydrate markers

The targeting of sensory afferent neurons in the leech CNS occurs in two discrete steps that are mediated via different carbohydrate recognitions, as shown by molecular perturbations of cultured embryos. A constitutive carbohydrate marker that is generic to all of these neurons mediates their initial defasciculation and arborization across the entire target region via mannose-specific recognition. Subsequently, two subsets of these same neurons can be differentiated by their expression of other markers that are located on hybrid or complex type carbohydrate chains. These developmentally regulated carbohydrate markers then mediate the target assembly of their respective neuronal subsets into discrete subregions. Thus, by performing opposing functions in a temporal sequence, constitutive and developmentally regulated carbohydrate markers collaborate in the targeting of neuronal subsets in the CNS.

Specific pathway selection by the early projections of individual peripheral sensory neurons in the embryonic medicinal leech

In leech, the central annulus of each midbody segment possesses seven pairs of sensilla, which are mixed clusters of primary peripheral sensory neurons that extend their axons into the CNS where they segregate into distinct fascicles. Pathway selection by individual afferent growth cones of sensillar neurons was examined by double labeling using intracellular dye-filling with antibody labeling in early Hirudo medicinalis embryos. The monoclonal antibody Lan3-2 was used because sensillar neuronal tracts are specifically labeled by this antibody. Examining 68 individually filled neurons we found that sensillar neuron growth cones bifurcate within the CNS, that they project long filopodia capable of sampling the local environment, and that all of them appeared to choose a single particular CNS fascicle without apparent retraction or realignment of growth cones. Furthermore, each side of the bifurcating afferent growth cones always chose the same fascicle, implying a specific choice of a distinct labeled pathway. By dye-filling individual central neurons (P-cells), we show that there are centrally projecting axons present at the time sensillar afferents enter the ganglionic primordia and select a particular fascicle, and we confirm that at least the dorsal peripheral nerve is likely to be pioneered by central neurons, not by the peripheral afferents. In the sensillum studied here, we found examples of sensory neurons extending axons into one of all the available fascicles. Thus, an individual embryonic sensillum possesses a heterogeneous population of afferents with respect to the central fascicle chosen. This is consistent with the idea that segregation into distinct axon fascicles may be based upon functional differences between individual afferent neurons. Our findings argue strongly in favor of specific pathway selection by afferents in this system and are consistent with previous suggestions that there exists a hierarchy of cues, including surface glycoconjugates that mediate navigation of the sensillar growth cones and the fasciculation of their axons.

Axonal sprouting and laminin appearance after destruction of glial sheaths

Laminin, a large extracellular matrix molecule, is associated with axonal outgrowth during development and regeneration of the nervous system in a variety of animals. In the leech central nervous system, laminin immunoreactivity appears after axon injury in advance of the regenerating axons. Although studies of vertebrate nervous system in culture have implicated glial and Schwann cells as possible sources, the cells that deposit laminin at sites crucial for regeneration in the living animal are not known. We have made a direct test to determine whether, in the central nervous system of the leech, cells other than ensheathing glial cells can produce laminin. Ensheathing glial cells of adult leeches were ablated selectively by intracellular injection of a protease. As a result, leech laminin accumulated within 10 days in regions of the central nervous system where it is not normally found, and undamaged, intact axons began to sprout extensively. In normal leeches laminin immunoreactivity is situated only in the basement membrane that surrounds the central nervous system, whereas after ablation of ensheathing glia it appeared in spaces through which neurons grew. Within days of ablation of the glial cell, small mobile phagocytes, or microglia, accumulated in the spaces formerly occupied by the glial cell. Microglia were concentrated at precisely the sites of new laminin appearance and axon sprouting. These results suggest that in the animal, as in culture, leech laminin promotes sprouting and that microglia may be responsible for its appearance.

Mesenchyme of embryonic reproductive ducts directs process outgrowth of Retzius neurons in the medicinal leech

In the two segments of the medicinal leech (Hirudo medicinalis) that contain the male (segment 5) and the female (segment 6) reproductive ducts, the paired Retzius (Rz) neurons are distinguished by several unique properties. For example, the muscles and glands of the body wall are the primary peripheral targets of Rz neurons in standard segments [Rz(X)], whereas the muscles and glands of the reproductive ducts are the primary peripheral targets of Rz neurons in the two reproductive segments [Rz(5,6)]. In this paper, we show that organogenesis and differentiation, which generate an epithelial tube surrounded by mesenchymal cells, occur in the embryonic reproductive ducts at approximately the time when Rz processes first contact these structures. The growth cones leading one branch of the posterior axon of Rz(5,6) contact the duct mesenchymal cells. Following initiation of this contact, these posterior growth cones enlarge and send out numerous filopodia. Secondarily, growth cones leading the anterior axon of each Rz(5,6) also modify their shapes and trajectories. When embryonic reproductive ducts were transplanted into posterior (nonreproductive) segments, the branch of the posterior Rz axon near the ectopic reproductive tissue produced enlarged growth cones and extended several secondary branches into the mesenchyme of the ectopic tissue. This result suggests that the reproductive mesenchyme is attractive to, and can modify the growth of, all Rz neurons. The behavior of Rz(5,6) growth cones suggests that the reproductive mesenchyme cells provide guidance cues that control the location in which Rz axons elaborate their peripheral arborization and form synapses, and that the mesenchyme may also stimulate the production of a densely branched arbor.

Tract formation and axon fasciculation of molecularly distinct peripheral neuron subpopulations during leech embryogenesis

In leech, the central projections of peripheral sensory neurons segregate into specific axonal tracts, which are distinguished by differential expression of surface antigens recognized by the monoclonal antibodies Lan3-2 and Lan4-2. Lan3-2 recognizes an epitope expressed on axons that segregate into three distinct axon fascicles. In contrast, the Lan4-2-positive axons selectively project into only one of the Lan3-2-positive axon tracts. These observations provide evidence for a hierarchy of guidance cues mediating specific pathway formation in this system. Since the Lan3-2 antibody has been shown to perturb this process and since, as shown here, the Lan3-2 and Lan4-2 antigens are closely molecularly interrelated, these antibodies may help define molecules and epitopes mediating neuronal recognition and axonal guidance.

The specificity of 130-kDa leech sensory afferent proteins is encoded by their carbohydrate epitopes

From early development through adulthood in the leech, sensory afferents, glial cells, and connective tissue express different epitopes located on a group of 130-kDa glycoproteins. The sensory epitope [reactive with monoclonal antibody (mAb) Lan3-2] is shared by the peripheral sensory afferents of different sensory modalities. In contrast, three other immunocytochemically distinct epitopes (reactive with mAbs Laz2-369, Laz7-79, and Laz6-212) differentiate these sensory afferents according to their sensory modalities. The glial epitope (mAb Laz6-297) is expressed on all macroglial processes, and the connective tissue epitope (mAb Laz9-84) is located on connective tissue surrounding the CNS, as well as in the peripheral tissues. The hydrophilic-hydrophobic nature of the 130-kDa sensory afferent and glial proteins was determined by phase separation with Triton X-114 and hypoosmotic extraction. They behave as peripheral membrane proteins. Deglycosylation of 130-kDa glycoproteins with N-Glycanase or preincubation of their respective mAbs with alpha-methylmannoside showed that the sensory epitope contains mannose, whereas the modality epitopes are of an undefined carbohydrate character. Immunoprecipitation and a peptide mapping experiment confirmed the existence of four distinct sensory afferent epitopes. Previous studies provided evidence that the mannose-containing Lan3-2 epitope mediates normal sensory afferent growth in the synaptic neuropile. We, therefore, postulate that the carbohydrate epitopes on sensory afferent glycoproteins participate in synapse formation.