Adrenergic activation modulates the signal from the Reissner fiber to cerebrospinal fluid-contacting neurons during development
The cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) contains an extracellular thread that is conserved in vertebrates and referred to as the Reissner fiber. Genetic ablation in the zebrafish revealed that the Reissner fiber controls body axis morphogenesis in the embryo. Yet, the signaling cascade originating from this fiber to ensure body axis straightening is not fully understood. Here, we explore the functional link between the Reissner fiber and undifferentiated spinal neurons contacting the CSF (CSF-cNs). First, we show that the Reissner fiber is required for the expression of urp2, a neuropeptide expressed in CSF-cNs. Using in vivo calcium imaging, we show that the Reissner fiber is also required for embryonic calcium transients in these spinal neurons. Finally, we study how local adrenergic activation directly in the CSF can substitute for the Reissner fiber-signaling pathway to CSF-cNs and rescue body axis morphogenesis. Our results suggest that the Reissner fiber acts on CSF-cNs to establish body axis morphogensis by controlling the availability of a chemical signal in the CSF.