Ribosome profiling reveals post-translational signaling mechanisms drive the retrograde enhancement of presynaptic efficacy

Abstract

Presynaptic efficacy can be modulated by retrograde control mechanisms, but the nature of these complex signaling systems remain obscure. We have developed and optimized a tissue specific ribosome profiling approach in Drosophila. We first demonstrate the ability of this technology to define genome-wide translational regulations. We then leverage this technology to test the relative contributions of transcriptional, translational, and post-translational mechanisms in the postsynaptic muscle that orchestrate the retrograde control of presynaptic function. Surprisingly, we find no changes in transcription or translation are necessary to enable retrograde homeostatic signaling. Rather, post-translational mechanisms appear to ultimately gate instructive retrograde communication. Finally, we find that a global increase in translation induces adaptive responses in both transcription and translation of protein chaperones and degradation factors to promote cellular proteostasis. Together, this demonstrates the power of ribosome profiling to define transcriptional, translational, and post-translational mechanisms driving retrograde signaling during adaptive plasticity.\n\nAUTHOR SUMMARYRecent advances in next-generation sequencing approaches have revolutionized our understanding of transcriptional expression in diverse systems. However, transcriptional expression alone does not necessarily report gene translation, the process of ultimate importance in understanding cellular function. To circumvent this limitation, biochemical tagging of ribosomes and isolation of ribosomally-associated mRNA has been developed. However, this approach, called TRAP, has been shown to lack quantitative resolution compared to a superior technology, ribosome profiling, which quantifies the number of ribosomes associated with each mRNA. Ribosome profiling typically requires large quantities of starting material, limiting progress in developing tissue-specific approaches. Here, we have developed the first tissue specific ribosome profiling system in Drosophila to reveal genome-wide changes in translation. We first demonstrate successful ribosome profiling from a specific tissue, muscle, with superior resolution compared to TRAP. We then use transcriptional and ribosome profiling to define transcriptional and translational adaptions necessary for synaptic signaling at the neuromuscular junction. Finally, we utilize ribosome profiling to demonstrate adaptive changes in cellular translation following cellular stress to muscle tissue. Together, this now enables the power of Drosophila genetics to be leveraged with translational profiling in specific tissues.