Transcriptional profiling of identified circuit elements in invertebrates

Abstract

One approach to understand how neural circuits contribute to behavior is to dissect the function of discrete neuronal components of the network. The transcriptional profile of a neuron is a starting point to infer morphological, biochemical, and physiological properties that determine its functionality. This chapter aims to provide an overview on the challenges and advances to gain genetic access to distinct neuronal cell types, and the transcriptional profiling methods used to query their gene expression. In addition, it also surveys the contribution of transcriptional profiling experiments to our knowledge on aspects of circuit structure and function, which include dendritic morphology, wiring specificity, synaptogenesis, remodeling, and physiological states and functional properties of neurons. Based on the limitations of the current transcriptional profiling approaches, this chapter also addresses the perspectives and new developments that are expected to push cell type-specific gene expression profiling to new frontiers.