C-RUI: Use of Three-Dimensional Time-Lapse Microscopy to Probe the Role of Proteases in Neurite Invasiveness

这个项目是在本科院校的合作研究，涉及生物学，化学和物理光学。 当神经系统在发育过程中生长时，其中一个关键事件是从单个神经细胞体延伸出称为神经突的长过程;这些神经突将细胞连接到它们的目标（其他神经细胞，肌肉或腺体），这些目标可能在成人中很远。 体内组织之间存在各种屏障，其中之一称为细胞外基质或ECM，其主要由蛋白质组成。 据信，神经突生长的尖端分泌一种酶，即蛋白酶，以局部分解ECM并允许神经突穿透它。本项目利用新型荧光染料和延时显微成像技术来检查特定金属蛋白酶的定位，基质的降解和携带蛋白质的细胞内交通。 该项目旨在首次揭示被认为是神经突延伸机制不可或缺的分子的动力学。 结果将对发育生物学，细胞生物学和成像技术产生影响，该项目提供了一种新颖的多学科经验，涉及本科生在从生物化学到光学的一系列不寻常的技术上进行令人兴奋的研究。

This project is for Collaborative Research at Undergraduate Institutions, involving biology, chemistry and physical optics. When the nervous system grows during development, one of the key events is the extension of long processes called neurites from individual nerve cell bodies; these neurites connect cells to their targets (other nerve cells, muscles, or glands) that may be long distances away in the adult. There are various barriers between tissues in the body, and one of these is called extracellular matrix, or ECM, which is largely made of proteils. It is believed that the growing tip of neurites secrete an enzyme that is a proteinase, to locally break down the ECM and allow the neurites to penetrate it. This project utilizes novel fluorescent dyes and time-lapse microscopic imaging techniques to examine the localization of a particular metallo-proteinase, degradation of the matrix, and intracellular traffic carrying the proteins. The project is designed to reveal for the first time the dynamics of molecules believed to be integral to mechanisms for neurite elongation. Results will have an impact on developmental biology, cell biology and imaging technology, and the project provides a novel multidisciplinary experience involving undergraduates in exciting research over an unusual range of techniques from biochemistry to optics.