Evidence map›Paper›PMID 40505655›Full record

ArticleCell2025

Neuropeptides specify and reprogram division of labor in the leafcutter ant Atta cephalotes.

Michael B Gilbert, Karl M Glastad, Maxxum Fioriti, Matan Sorek, Tierney Scarpa, Freddy S Purnell, Daniel Xu, Lindsay K Pino, Anatoly Korotkov, Ali Biashad and 10 more

Abstract read
PubMed Full text at PMC Publisher
In one paragraph

Article in Cell, 2025. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 6 papers.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
6citing papers in PubMed
–field-weighted citation impact
1 · What the graph read from it

What it found

Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.

The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.

2 · The registry

The trial behind it

Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.

Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.

3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

6 citing papers in PubMed.

  1. Review
  2. Article
  3. Article
  4. Article
  5. Article
  6. Review
4 · The record

Corrections and comments

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

20 authors.

Michael B GilbertEpigenetics Institute, Perelman School of Medicine, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, PA 19104, USA; Department of Cell and Developmental Biology, Perelman School of Medicine, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, PA 19104, USA; Biochemistry and Molecular Biophysics Graduate Group, Perelman School of Medicine, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, PA 19104, USA.
Karl M GlastadEpigenetics Institute, Perelman School of Medicine, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, PA 19104, USA; Department of Cell and Developmental Biology, Perelman School of Medicine, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, PA 19104, USA; Department of Biology, University of Rochester, Rochester, NY, USA. Electronic address: karlglastad@gmail.com.
Maxxum FioritiEpigenetics Institute, Perelman School of Medicine, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, PA 19104, USA; Department of Cell and Developmental Biology, Perelman School of Medicine, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, PA 19104, USA; Biochemistry and Molecular Biophysics Graduate Group, Perelman School of Medicine, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, PA 19104, USA.
Matan SorekEpigenetics Institute, Perelman School of Medicine, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, PA 19104, USA; Department of Cell and Developmental Biology, Perelman School of Medicine, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, PA 19104, USA.
Tierney ScarpaEpigenetics Institute, Perelman School of Medicine, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, PA 19104, USA; Department of Cell and Developmental Biology, Perelman School of Medicine, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, PA 19104, USA.
Freddy S PurnellEpigenetics Institute, Perelman School of Medicine, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, PA 19104, USA; Department of Biology, School of Arts and Sciences, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, PA 19104, USA.
Daniel XuEpigenetics Institute, Perelman School of Medicine, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, PA 19104, USA; Department of Cell and Developmental Biology, Perelman School of Medicine, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, PA 19104, USA.
Lindsay K PinoTalus Bioscience, Seattle, WA, USA.
Anatoly KorotkovDepartment of Biology, University of Rochester, Rochester, NY, USA.
Ali BiashadDepartment of Biology, University of Rochester, Rochester, NY, USA.
Josue BaezaEpigenetics Institute, Perelman School of Medicine, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, PA 19104, USA; Department of Cell and Developmental Biology, Perelman School of Medicine, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, PA 19104, USA.
Richard LaumanDepartment of Cell and Developmental Biology, Perelman School of Medicine, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, PA 19104, USA; Biochemistry and Molecular Biophysics Graduate Group, Perelman School of Medicine, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, PA 19104, USA.
Anastasiia FilippovaBrain Mind Institute, School of Life Sciences, École Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne, Genève, Switzerland.
Balint Z KacsohEpigenetics Institute, Perelman School of Medicine, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, PA 19104, USA; Department of Cell and Developmental Biology, Perelman School of Medicine, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, PA 19104, USA.
Roberto BonasioEpigenetics Institute, Perelman School of Medicine, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, PA 19104, USA; Department of Cell and Developmental Biology, Perelman School of Medicine, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, PA 19104, USA.
Mackenzie W MathisBrain Mind Institute, School of Life Sciences, École Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne, Genève, Switzerland.
Benjamin A GarciaEpigenetics Institute, Perelman School of Medicine, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, PA 19104, USA; Biochemistry and Molecular Biophysics Graduate Group, Perelman School of Medicine, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, PA 19104, USA; Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biophysics, Washington University School of Medicine, St. Louis, MO, USA.
Andrei SeluanovDepartment of Biology, University of Rochester, Rochester, NY, USA.
Vera GorbunovaDepartment of Biology, University of Rochester, Rochester, NY, USA.
Shelley L BergerEpigenetics Institute, Perelman School of Medicine, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, PA 19104, USA; Department of Cell and Developmental Biology, Perelman School of Medicine, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, PA 19104, USA; Department of Biology, School of Arts and Sciences, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, PA 19104, USA; Department of Genetics, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, PA 19104, USA. Electronic address: bergers@upenn.edu.

Funding

The role of hyaluronan in longevity and cancer resistance of longest-lived rodentP01AG047200 · NIA · UNIVERSITY OF ROCHESTER · PI Andrei Seluanov · 2014 to 2026
$36.9M
Epigenetic regulation of extreme longevity differences in ant castesR01AG055570 · NIA · UNIVERSITY OF PENNSYLVANIA · PI SHELLEY L BERGER · 2017 to 2026
$4.3M
Epigenetic regulation of social and behavioral plasticity in antsR01MH131861 · NIMH · UNIVERSITY OF PENNSYLVANIA · PI Roberto Bonasio · 2022 to 2026
$2.0M
Social control of lifespan regulation via glial plasticity in antsR01AG071818 · NIA · UNIVERSITY OF PENNSYLVANIA · PI BONASIO, ROBERTO · 2021 to 2025
$1.7M
NIA NIH HHS P01 AG047200NIA NIH HHS R01 AG055570NIA NIH HHS R01 AG071818NIMH NIH HHS R01 MH131861
6 · The paper itself

Abstract

Social insects offer powerful models to investigate mechanisms of elaborate individual behaviors comprising a cooperative community. Workers of the leafcutter ant genus Atta are extreme examples of behavioral segregation among phenotypically distinct worker types. We utilize this worker system to test the molecular underpinnings of behavioral programming and the extent of plasticity to reprogramming. We identify specific neuropeptides mediating worker division of labor in A. cephalotes, finding two neuropeptides associated with characteristic behaviors of leaf cutting and of brood care. Genetic knockdown or injection of these neuropeptides led to a stark gain or loss of each behavior and to transcriptomic shifts toward gene pathways expressed in the natural castes. We also reveal global similarities between worker transcriptomes of the eusocial mammal, the naked mole-rat H. glaber, with orthologous A. cephalotes workers. This work underscores the essential function of neuropeptides in establishing complex social behavior and a remarkable plasticity among individual behavioral types.

Indexed as

AntsNeuropeptidesAnimalsBehavior, AnimalFemaleInsect ProteinsMole RatsSocial BehaviorTranscriptomeInsect ProteinsNeuropeptidesantsAtta cephalotesdivision of laborinsulinnaked mole-ratneuroparsinneuropeptidesreprogrammingsocial insectstranscriptomics

Identifiers

PMID40505655
PMCPMC13118808

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Registered trials

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Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.