Sensory systems articles within Nature Communications

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  • Article
    | Open Access

    Neural coding for motion direction has been studied intensively in the visual cortex of non-human primates. Here, the authors establish an origin for direction selectivity in the retina of the macaque monkey.

    • Yeon Jin Kim
    • , Beth B. Peterson
    •  & Dennis M. Dacey

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Limits of AAV-mediated gene therapy include targeting dominant mutations and inducing long-term transgene expression. Here, the authors show that AAV-HITI results in efficient allele-independent integration of a donor DNA in both retina and liver providing therapeutic benefit in mouse models of either a genetic form of blindness or a lysosomal storage disease, respectively.

    • Patrizia Tornabene
    • , Rita Ferla
    •  & Alberto Auricchio

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Pre-existing antibodies against Cas9 proteins represent a potential issue for gene therapies, including those targeting the eye. Here the authors assess the presence of intraocular antibodies, and show that Cas9 antibodies were prevalent in human serum but not the eye, unless prior bacterial infection occurred.

    • Marcus A. Toral
    • , Carsten T. Charlesworth
    •  & Vinit B. Mahajan

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Age-related macular degeneration (AMD) is a leading cause of blindness and is characterised by the accumulation of lipid deposits, called drusen. Here, the authors show that mice lacking chloride intracellular channel 4 in retinal pigment epithelium have defective lipid processing in the eye and pathological features mirroring human AMD, including drusen formation.

    • Jen-Zen Chuang
    • , Nan Yang
    •  & Ching-Hwa Sung

  • Article
    | Open Access

    The gene regulatory network controlling the bifurcation of common progenitors into the neural retina and retinal-pigmented epithelium programs remains poorly understood. Here the authors study transcriptome dynamics and chromatin accessibility during this process in zebrafish, revealing network redundancy, as well as context-dependent and sequential transcription factor activity.

    • Lorena Buono
    • , Jorge Corbacho
    •  & Juan-Ramón Martínez-Morales

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Jervell and Lange-Nielsen syndrome is characterised by congenital deafness and vestibular dysfunction, and is caused by mutations in KCNE1 or KCNQ1. Here, the authors show that gene therapy via canalostomy at early postnatal stage can preserve the morphology of inner ear and auditory and vestibular functions in a mouse model of human JLNS2.

    • Xuewen Wu
    • , Li Zhang
    •  & Xi Lin

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Mutations in human PIEZO2, encoding for a mechanosensitive ion channel, lead to skeletal abnormalities including scoliosis and hip dysplasia. Here, the authors show that deletion of Piezo2 in proprioceptive neurons, but not in skeletal lineages, recapitulated the human phenotype in mice.

    • Eran Assaraf
    • , Ronen Blecher
    •  & Elazar Zelzer

  • Perspective
    | Open Access

    No effective therapies exist for dry age-related macular degeneration. In this perspective, the authors propose that research should emphasize system biology approaches that integrate various ‘omics’ data into mathematical models to establish pathogenic mechanisms on which to design novel treatments, and identify biomarkers that predict disease progression and therapeutic response.

    • James T. Handa
    • , Cathy Bowes Rickman
    •  & Lindsay A. Farrer

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Cholinergic neurons innervate multiple layers in the main olfactory bulb but the precise circuitry of this input is not known. Here the authors show that VGLUT3+ cholinergic neurons selectively innervate deep short axon cells in specific layers and elicit robust monosynaptic GABAergic and nicotinic postsynaptic currents.

    • Daniel T. Case
    • , Shawn D. Burton
    •  & Rebecca P. Seal

  • Article |

    The transcriptional regulation of morphogenetic effectors during eye development is poorly understood. Here, the authors show that transcription of an endocytosis regulator Opois crucial for the neural retina development in zebrafish and activated by the interaction of the transcription factor Vsx2 and retinal enhancer H6_10137.

    • Ines Gago-Rodrigues
    • , Ana Fernández-Miñán
    •  & Juan R. Martinez-Morales

  • Article |

    During development, neurons prune their axons and dendrites to eliminate excessive or inappropriate connections initially formed but the mechanistic details of the pruning process are not completely understood. Here the authors visualize pruning events in dendritic branches in Drosophilaand study the role of calcium transients and endocytosis in this process.

    • Takahiro Kanamori
    • , Jiro Yoshino
    •  & Kazuo Emoto

  • Article
    | Open Access

    The activity of sensory neurons can be correlated with perceptual decisions and this effect may provide insights into how sensory information is processed during perceptual tasks. Here the authors develop a network model of sensory and decision-making areas and propose that the dynamics across the network hierarchy explains the choice probabilities.

    • Klaus Wimmer
    • , Albert Compte
    •  & Jaime de la Rocha

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Surface area features of developing visual cortices are implicated in visual perception. Songet al.measure visual discrimination sensitivity in humans and find that an increase in visual cortical surface area activity is associated with improved discrimination sensitivity and degraded contextual illusions.

    • Chen Song
    • , Dietrich S. Schwarzkopf
    •  & Geraint Rees

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Monarch Butterflies (Danaus plexippus) use their antennae for orientation during their autumnal migration. Guerra and colleagues differentially disrupt clock gene expression in each antenna and find that the individual outputs are integrated and processed to allow precise control of orientation behaviour.

    • Patrick A. Guerra
    • , Christine Merlin
    •  & Steven M. Reppert

  • Article |

    Calorie restriction has been associated with increased life span and delayed decline of memory in animals, suggesting a role in neuronal plasticity. In this study, food restriction is demonstrated to enhance plasticity in the central nervous system and trigger the recovery from ocular deprivation in adulthood.

    • Maria Spolidoro
    • , Laura Baroncelli
    •  & Lamberto Maffei

  • Article
    | Open Access

    In the developing eye, the lens and retina are derived from different embryonic tissues, and how these two structures develop next to each other is of interest. In this study, the authors show that transforming growth factor-β secreted by neural crest cells is critical for the positioning of the lens next to the retina.

    • Timothy Grocott
    • , Samuel Johnson
    •  & Andrea Streit

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