Molecular Assembly of a Giant Synapse in Drosophila

大脑的正常功能依赖于神经细胞之间被称为突触的特殊功能连接。这些高度特化的结构具有各种各样的大小和膜的超微结构特征，并且可以利用各种分子作为神经递质将信息从一个细胞传递到另一个细胞。这个项目使用了一个特殊的巨大突触作为模型系统，这个突触位于巨大的纤维和运动神经元之间，存在于果蝇的中枢神经系统中；这种生物也有很好的遗传背景。生理学、解剖学和分子工具，以及突变和转基因方法，将被用来研究在发育过程中这种巨大突触组装的分子基础。特别感兴趣的是巨大纤维中的分子信号，它被带回纤维到细胞核，以调节突触特化的形成。结果将对发育生物学和神经科学很重要，该项目也将培养神经科学方面的本科生和研究生。

The brain depends for its normal function on the specialized functional connections called synapses between nerve cells. These highly specialized structures have a great variety of sizes and ultrastructural features of their membranes, and can utilize a variety of molecules as neurotransmitters to carry information from one cell to another. This project uses as a model system a particular giant synapse in a visual-motor pathway, between a giant fiber and a motor neuron that is found in the central nervous system of the fruitfly, Drosophila; this organism also has a very well understood genetic background. Physiological, anatomical, and molecular tools, along with mutations and transgenic approaches, will be used to examine the molecular basis for the assembly of this giant synapse during development. The particular interest is in a molecular signal within the giant fiber that is carried back up the fiber to the cell nucleus, to regulate the formation of synaptic specializations. Results will be important for developmental biology as well as neuroscience, and the project will also train undergraduate and graduate students in neuroscience.