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Bohic M, Upadhyay A, Eisdorfer JT, Keating J, Simon RC, Briones BA, Azadegan C, Nacht HD, Oputa O, Martinez AM, Bethell BN, Gradwell MA, Romanienko P, Ramer MS, Stuber GD, Abraira VE. A new Hoxb8FlpO mouse line for intersectional approaches to dissect developmentally defined adult sensorimotor circuits. Front Mol Neurosci 2023; 16:1176823. [PMID: 37603775 PMCID: PMC10437123 DOI: 10.3389/fnmol.2023.1176823] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/28/2023] [Accepted: 07/04/2023] [Indexed: 08/23/2023] Open
Abstract
Improvements in the speed and cost of expression profiling of neuronal tissues offer an unprecedented opportunity to define ever finer subgroups of neurons for functional studies. In the spinal cord, single cell RNA sequencing studies support decades of work on spinal cord lineage studies, offering a unique opportunity to probe adult function based on developmental lineage. While Cre/Flp recombinase intersectional strategies remain a powerful tool to manipulate spinal neurons, the field lacks genetic tools and strategies to restrict manipulations to the adult mouse spinal cord at the speed at which new tools develop. This study establishes a new workflow for intersectional mouse-viral strategies to dissect adult spinal function based on developmental lineages in a modular fashion. To restrict manipulations to the spinal cord, we generate a brain-sparing Hoxb8FlpO mouse line restricting Flp recombinase expression to caudal tissue. Recapitulating endogenous Hoxb8 gene expression, Flp-dependent reporter expression is present in the caudal embryo starting day 9.5. This expression restricts Flp activity in the adult to the caudal brainstem and below. Hoxb8FlpO heterozygous and homozygous mice do not develop any of the sensory or locomotor phenotypes evident in Hoxb8 heterozygous or mutant animals, suggesting normal developmental function of the Hoxb8 gene and protein in Hoxb8FlpO mice. Compared to the variability of brain recombination in available caudal Cre and Flp lines, Hoxb8FlpO activity is not present in the brain above the caudal brainstem, independent of mouse genetic background. Lastly, we combine the Hoxb8FlpO mouse line with dorsal horn developmental lineage Cre mouse lines to express GFP in developmentally determined dorsal horn populations. Using GFP-dependent Cre recombinase viruses and Cre recombinase-dependent inhibitory chemogenetics, we target developmentally defined lineages in the adult. We show how developmental knock-out versus transient adult silencing of the same ROR𝛃 lineage neurons affects adult sensorimotor behavior. In summary, this new mouse line and viral approach provides a blueprint to dissect adult somatosensory circuit function using Cre/Flp genetic tools to target spinal cord interneurons based on genetic lineage.
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Affiliation(s)
- Manon Bohic
- Cell Biology and Neuroscience Department, Rutgers University, The State University of New Jersey, Piscataway, NJ, United States
- W.M. Keck Center for Collaborative Neuroscience, Rutgers University, The State University of New Jersey, Piscataway, NJ, United States
| | - Aman Upadhyay
- Cell Biology and Neuroscience Department, Rutgers University, The State University of New Jersey, Piscataway, NJ, United States
- W.M. Keck Center for Collaborative Neuroscience, Rutgers University, The State University of New Jersey, Piscataway, NJ, United States
- Neuroscience PhD Program at Rutgers Robert Wood Johnson Medical School, Piscataway, NJ, United States
| | - Jaclyn T. Eisdorfer
- Cell Biology and Neuroscience Department, Rutgers University, The State University of New Jersey, Piscataway, NJ, United States
- W.M. Keck Center for Collaborative Neuroscience, Rutgers University, The State University of New Jersey, Piscataway, NJ, United States
| | - Jessica Keating
- Cell Biology and Neuroscience Department, Rutgers University, The State University of New Jersey, Piscataway, NJ, United States
- W.M. Keck Center for Collaborative Neuroscience, Rutgers University, The State University of New Jersey, Piscataway, NJ, United States
- School of Medicine, Oregon Health and Science University, Portland, OR, United States
- M.D./PhD Program in Neuroscience, School of Medicine, Oregon Health and Science University, Portland, OR, United States
| | - Rhiana C. Simon
- Center for the Neurobiology of Addiction, Pain, and Emotion, Department of Anesthesiology and Pain Medicine, Department of Pharmacology, University of Washington, Seattle, WA, United States
| | - Brandy A. Briones
- Center for the Neurobiology of Addiction, Pain, and Emotion, Department of Anesthesiology and Pain Medicine, Department of Pharmacology, University of Washington, Seattle, WA, United States
| | - Chloe Azadegan
- Cell Biology and Neuroscience Department, Rutgers University, The State University of New Jersey, Piscataway, NJ, United States
- W.M. Keck Center for Collaborative Neuroscience, Rutgers University, The State University of New Jersey, Piscataway, NJ, United States
| | - Hannah D. Nacht
- Cell Biology and Neuroscience Department, Rutgers University, The State University of New Jersey, Piscataway, NJ, United States
- W.M. Keck Center for Collaborative Neuroscience, Rutgers University, The State University of New Jersey, Piscataway, NJ, United States
| | - Olisemeka Oputa
- Cell Biology and Neuroscience Department, Rutgers University, The State University of New Jersey, Piscataway, NJ, United States
- W.M. Keck Center for Collaborative Neuroscience, Rutgers University, The State University of New Jersey, Piscataway, NJ, United States
| | - Alana M. Martinez
- Cell Biology and Neuroscience Department, Rutgers University, The State University of New Jersey, Piscataway, NJ, United States
- W.M. Keck Center for Collaborative Neuroscience, Rutgers University, The State University of New Jersey, Piscataway, NJ, United States
| | - Bridget N. Bethell
- International Collaboration on Repair Discoveries and Department of Zoology, The University of British Columbia, Vancouver, BC, Canada
| | - Mark A. Gradwell
- Cell Biology and Neuroscience Department, Rutgers University, The State University of New Jersey, Piscataway, NJ, United States
- W.M. Keck Center for Collaborative Neuroscience, Rutgers University, The State University of New Jersey, Piscataway, NJ, United States
| | - Peter Romanienko
- Genome Editing Shared Resource, Rutgers Cancer Institute of New Jersey, New Brunswick, NJ, United States
| | - Matt S. Ramer
- International Collaboration on Repair Discoveries and Department of Zoology, The University of British Columbia, Vancouver, BC, Canada
| | - Garret D. Stuber
- Center for the Neurobiology of Addiction, Pain, and Emotion, Department of Anesthesiology and Pain Medicine, Department of Pharmacology, University of Washington, Seattle, WA, United States
| | - Victoria E. Abraira
- Cell Biology and Neuroscience Department, Rutgers University, The State University of New Jersey, Piscataway, NJ, United States
- W.M. Keck Center for Collaborative Neuroscience, Rutgers University, The State University of New Jersey, Piscataway, NJ, United States
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