The Voltage-Gated Calcium Channel EGL-19 Acts on Glia to Drive Olfactory Adaptation

Du Chen; Hankui Cheng; Siyan Liu; Umar Al-Sheikh; Yuedan Fan; Duo Duan; Wenjuan Zou; Linhui Zhu; Lijun Kang

doi:10.3389/fnmol.2022.907064

The Voltage-Gated Calcium Channel EGL-19 Acts on Glia to Drive Olfactory Adaptation

Front Mol Neurosci. 2022 Jun 17:15:907064. doi: 10.3389/fnmol.2022.907064. eCollection 2022.

Authors

Du Chen^{1

2}, Hankui Cheng^{1

2}, Siyan Liu^{1

2}, Umar Al-Sheikh^{1

2}, Yuedan Fan^{1

2}, Duo Duan^{1

2}, Wenjuan Zou^{1

2}, Linhui Zhu^{1

2}, Lijun Kang^{1

2}

Affiliations

¹ Department of Neurobiology and Department of Neurology of the Fourth Affiliated Hospital, Zhejiang University, School of Medicine, Hangzhou, China.
² NHC and CAMS Key Laboratory of Medical Neurobiology, MOE Frontier Science Center for Brain Research and Brain-Machine Integration, School of Brain Science and Brain Medicine, Zhejiang University, Hangzhou, China.

Abstract

Calcium channelopathies have been strongly linked to cardiovascular, muscular, neurological and psychiatric disorders. The voltage-gated calcium channels (VGCC) are vital transducers of membrane potential changes to facilitate the dynamics of calcium ions and release of neurotransmitter. Whether these channels function in the glial cell to mediate calcium variations and regulate behavioral outputs, is poorly understood. Our results showed that odorant and mechanical stimuli evoked robust calcium increases in the amphid sheath (AMsh) glia from C. elegans, which were largely dependent on the L-Type VGCC EGL-19. Moreover, EGL-19 modulates the morphologies of both ASH sensory neurons and AMsh glia. Tissue-specific knock-down of EGL-19 in AMsh glia regulated sensory adaptability of ASH neurons and promoted olfactory adaptation. Our results reveal a novel role of glial L-Type VGCC EGL-19 on olfaction, lead to improved understanding of the functions of VGCCs in sensory transduction.

Keywords: adaptation; calcium channel; glia; glia-neuron interaction; olfaction.