Thermal Transduction in Somatosensory Neurons

体感神经元的热传导

• 批准号: 9211545
• 负责人: Thomas Baumann
• 金额: $ 5万
• 依托单位: Oregon Health & Science University
• 依托单位国家: 美国
• 项目类别: Standard Grant
• 财政年份: 1992
• 资助国家: 美国
• 起止时间: 1992-09-01 至 1994-02-28
• 项目状态: 已结题
• 来源: https://www.nsf.gov/awardsearch/showAward?AWD_ID=9211545&HistoricalAwards=false
• 关键词: Thermal; Transduction; Somatosensory; Neurons

The major goal of this project is to study the membrane mechanisms involved in signalling thermal stimuli by nerve cells in the trigeminal ganglion which receives information from the face. A novel, miniature thermal stimulator is being developed which will apply highly localized and well-controlled heat stimuli to these trigeminal sensory neurons which are maintained in a cell-culture environment. This new instrument is based upon a commercially available miniature thermometer which utilizes a temperature-dependent change in the rate of decay of fluorescence emitted by a phosphor coating at the tip of a fiberoptic probe. The tip of the temperature probe functions as a black-body radiator by covering it with a layer of gold. A new optical assembly couples the optical fiber to both a xenon flash light and an infrared laser diode. Injection of both infrared and blue radiation into the optic fiber will make it possible to simultaneously heat the front of the probe and measure its surface temperature. By utilizing the temperature signal in a feedback loop and pulse-modulating the output of the infrared laser diode, it is possible to accurately control the highly localized heat stimuli. This new instrument should have many important applications in biological research.

该项目的主要目的是研究三叉神经节中神经细胞信号热刺激所涉及的膜机制，该神经细胞从面部接收信息。 正在开发一种新型的微型热刺激器，该刺激剂将对这些三叉神经感觉神经元进行高度局部且控制良好的热刺激，并维持在细胞培养环境中。 该新仪器基于商业上可用的微型温度计，该温度计利用了温度依赖性的变化，该温度依赖性变化是在光纤探针尖端发出的磷光涂层发出的荧光衰减速率。 温度探针的尖端通过用一层金覆盖黑色散热器。 一个新的光学组件将光纤融合到氙气闪光灯和红外激光二极管上。 将红外辐射和蓝色辐射注入光纤将使同时加热探针的前部并测量其表面温度。 通过在反馈回路中利用温度信号并调节红外激光二极管的输出，可以准确控制高度局部的热刺激。 该新工具在生物学研究中应该具有许多重要的应用。