Microelectrode and Tracer Studies of the Chambered Nautilus Siphuncle

带室鹦鹉螺(Nautilus spp.)是曾经占优势的外腔头足类动物中唯一幸存的属。鹦鹉螺号通过其重型保护壳的充气室在海水中实现近中性浮力。虹吸器是穿过动物房间的器官，它带走最初充满房间的相机液体，并允许气体(主要是氮气)进入。因此，虹吸管是负责鹦鹉螺浮力的器官。为了了解虹吸虫是如何排空和部分填满脑室的，需要对这种运输和电生理学进行研究。在写一份涉及微电极和助熔剂实验的正式提案之前，需要进行初步研究，以证明可以在体外对虹吸细胞进行适当的测量。这份SGER提案将试图证明这些方法的可行性。这项SGER建议是探索性的，风险很高，因为对虹吸的体外研究从未进行过，也不能保证虹吸是微电极和示踪实验的有用系统。*

The chambered nautilus (Nautilus spp.) is the sole surviving genus of the once dominant externally-chambered cephalopods. Nautilus achieves its near-neutral buoyance in seawater via the gas-filled chambers of its heavy protective shell. The siphuncle, the organ that passes through the animal's chambers, removes the cameral liquid which initially fills the chambers, and allows gas (mostly N2) to enter. Thus, the siphuncle is the organ responsible for nautilus' buoyancy. To understand how the siphuncle empties and partially fills chambers, studies of this transport and electrophysiology and required. Prior to writing a formal proposal involving microelectrode and flux experiments, preliminary studies are required to show that the appropriate measurements can be made on siphuncular cells in vitro. This SGER proposal will attempt to demonstrate the feasibility of those methods. This SGER proposal is exploratory and high risk because in vitro studies of the siphuncle have never been done and there is no quarantee that the siphuncle is a useful system for microelectrode and tracer experiments.***