TY - JOUR T1 - Synaptic Transmission Parallels Neuromodulation in a Central Food-Intake Circuit JF - bioRxiv DO - 10.1101/044990 SP - 044990 AU - Philipp Schlegel AU - Michael J. Texada AU - Anton Miroschnikow AU - Andreas Schoofs AU - Sebastian Hückesfeld AU - Marc Peters AU - Casey M. Schneider-Mizell AU - Haluk Lacin AU - Feng Li AU - Richard D. Fetter AU - James W. Truman AU - Albert Cardona AU - Michael J. Pankratz Y1 - 2016/01/01 UR - http://biorxiv.org/content/early/2016/09/29/044990.abstract N2 - NeuromedinU is a potent regulator of food intake and activity in mammals. In Drosophila, neurons producing the homologous neuropeptide hugin regulate feeding and locomotion in a similar manner. Here, we use EM-based reconstruction to generate the entire connectome of hugin-producing neurons in the Drosophila larval CNS. We demonstrate that hugin neurons use synaptic transmission in addition to peptidergic neuromodulation and identify acetylcholine as a key transmitter. Hugin neuropeptide and acetylcholine are both necessary for the regulatory effect on feeding. We further show that subtypes of hugin neurons connect chemosensory to endocrine system by combinations of synaptic and peptide-receptor connections. Targets include endocrine neurons producing DH44, a CRH-like peptide, and insulin-like peptides. Homologs of these peptides are likewise downstream of neuromedinU, revealing striking parallels in flies and mammals. We propose that hugin neurons are part of a physiological control system that has been conserved at functional, molecular and network architecture level. ER -