上海科技大学知识管理系统

The development of functional synapses in the nervous system is important for animal
physiology and behaviors, and its disturbance has been linked with many neurodevelopmental
disorders. The synaptic transmission efficacy can be modulated by the environment to
accommodate external changes, which is crucial for animal reproduction and survival. However, the
underlying plasticity of synaptic transmission remains poorly understood. Here we show that in
Caenorhabditis elegans, the male environment increases the hermaphrodite cholinergic
transmission at the neuromuscular junction (NMJ), which alters hermaphrodites’ locomotion
velocity and mating efficiency. We identify that the male-specific pheromones mediate this synaptic
transmission modulation effect in a developmental stage-dependent manner. Dissection of the
sensory circuits reveals that the AWB chemosensory neurons sense those male pheromones and
further transduce the information to NMJ using cGMP signaling. Exposure of hermaphrodites to
the male pheromones specifically increases the accumulation of presynaptic CaV2 calcium channels
and clustering of postsynaptic acetylcholine receptors at cholinergic synapses of NMJ, which
potentiates cholinergic synaptic transmission. Thus, our study demonstrates a circuit mechanism for
synaptic modulation and behavioral flexibility by sexual dimorphic pheromones.