Neurobiology of Identified Peptidergic Neurons

神经肽是神经细胞释放的小蛋白分子，对大脑和周围组织都有深远的影响。它们与多种神经功能有关，从控制运动到传递感觉信息（如疼痛）。这些化学物质还涉及更长期的行为变化，如学习和记忆、觉醒和各种情绪状态。尽管它们至关重要，但人们对肽作用的细胞和分子机制知之甚少。Tublitz博士的研究就是为了找到这些答案。他的研究重点是神经肽家族——心脏加速肽（CAPs），它能调节包括心脏、肠道和大脑在内的几种不同组织。在他之前的NSF研究中，Tublitz博士证明了这些神经肽调节四种不同的发育特异性行为，每种行为都有一组独特的特征，导致非常不同的生理和/或行为后果。此外，他还鉴定了产生cap的细胞及其靶细胞。Tublitz博士现在将确定这些神经肽如何在分子水平上影响它们的目标，并确定产生肽的编码基因调节其水平。这项基础研究的结果将使我们更好地理解神经化学物质是如何调节神经细胞活动和随后的行为的。＊＊＊

9314537 Tublitz Neuropeptides, small proteinaceous molecules released from nerve cells, have profound effects both on the brain and peripheral tissues. They have been implicated in a variety of neural functions, ranging from controlling movements to transmitting sensory information such as pain. These chemicals are also involved in more long-term behavioral changes such as learning and memory, arousal and various emotional states. Despite their critical importance, little is known about the cellular and molecular mechanisms underlying peptide action. Dr. Tublitz's research is directed towards finding these answers. He is concentrating on a family of neuropeptides, the Cardioacceleratory Peptides (CAPs), that modulate several different tissues, including the heart, gut and brain. In his previous NSF research, Dr. Tublitz demonstrated that these neuropeptides modulate four different, developmentally-specific behaviors, each having a distinctive set of characteristics resulting in very different physiological and/or behavioral consequences. Moreover, he identified the cells that produce the CAPs and their targets. Dr. Tublitz will now determine how these neuropeptides affect their targets at the molecular level as well as to identify the genes that code producing the peptide regulate its levels. The results from this basic research will lead to a better understanding of how neurochemicals function to modulate nerve cell activity and subsequently, behavior. ***