RUI: Deep Brain Photoreceptors.

RUI：深部脑感光器。

• 批准号: 9511300
• 负责人: Rae Silver
• 金额: $ 22.67万
• 依托单位: Barnard College
• 依托单位国家: 美国
• 项目类别: Standard Grant
• 财政年份: 1995
• 资助国家: 美国
• 起止时间: 1995-08-01 至 1999-07-31
• 项目状态: 已结题
• 来源: https://www.nsf.gov/awardsearch/showAward?AWD_ID=9511300&HistoricalAwards=false
• 关键词: RUI; Deep; Brain; Photoreceptors.

Seasonal cycles of reproduction are regulated by environmental cues of light levels, called photic cues. The eyes are not the only detectors of light; many animals also have light sensitivity in the pineal glad within the head. However, in many vertebrates other than mammals, the receptors for these regulatory cues are actually light-sensitive cells within the brain itself. These "deep brain photoreceptors" are known to exist, but they have not yet been positively localized and identified. This work will use biochemical, electrophysiological and anatomical approaches to localize and identify these cells in the brains of birds that show cyclic seasonal breeding. Specific antibody-binding tests can label cells that contain compounds resembling the protein opsin, part of a known photopigment. Electrophysiological recording determines the responses of these identified cells to light stimuli. Electron microscopy shows the detailed connections from these cells to nerve cells in the hypothalamus controlling hormone secretions. Results from this study will have impact beyond sensory neuroscience, to issues of circadian regulation of behavior and the ecological relationship of breeding cycles to environmental cues.

繁殖的季节性周期受环境光线水平信号的调节，这种信号被称为光信号。眼睛并不是唯一的光探测器；许多动物头部的松果体也有光敏感度。然而，在哺乳动物以外的许多脊椎动物中，这些调节信号的受体实际上是大脑本身内的光敏细胞。这些“脑深部光感受器”是已知存在的，但它们尚未被明确定位和鉴定。这项工作将使用生化、电生理和解剖学方法来定位和识别鸟类大脑中显示出周期性季节性繁殖的这些细胞。特定的抗体结合测试可以标记含有类似于视蛋白的化合物的细胞，视蛋白是已知感光色素的一部分。电生理记录决定了这些识别的细胞对光刺激的反应。电子显微镜显示了这些细胞与控制激素分泌的下丘脑神经细胞之间的详细联系。这项研究的结果将对感觉神经科学以外的问题产生影响，包括行为的昼夜调节和繁殖周期与环境线索的生态关系。