The micromechanics of the lateral line system of zebrafish

斑马鱼侧线系统的微观力学

• 批准号: 0509740
• 负责人: Matthew McHenry
• 金额: $ 5万
• 依托单位: University of California-Irvine
• 依托单位国家: 美国
• 项目类别: Standard Grant
• 财政年份: 2005
• 资助国家: 美国
• 起止时间: 2005-07-01 至 2006-06-30
• 项目状态: 已结题
• 来源: https://www.nsf.gov/awardsearch/showAward?AWD_ID=0509740&HistoricalAwards=false
• 关键词: micromechanics; lateral; line; system; zebrafish

Project Description for"The micromechanics of the lateral line system of zebrafish."Fish have a sixth sense that detects the flow of water around their bodies. This ability, known as"distant touch" or the lateral line sense, allows fish to find the direction of flow in a stream, detect obstaclesin the dark, coordinate schooling, locate prey, and avoid predators. Despite the broad importance of thelateral line sense to the behavior and ecology of fish, it is not understood what mechanical information thelateral line organ extracts from its environment. The work proposed by Dr. McHenry will examine themechanics of individual lateral line structures in order to understand how they filter the mechanical signalsthat facilitate flow sensing.The lateral line detects water movement with an array of microscopic, finger-like structures thatproject from the surface of the body. Each structure, known as a superficial neuromast, is composed of agelatinous cylinder that is anchored at its base to a group of hair cells, which is the type of mechanosensorycell found in the human ear. Water movement over the body's surface causes a deflection in the neuromastthat is transduced into a nervous signal by the hair cells. The properties of this signal depend of how muchthe neuromast deflects in response to flow, which depends on its shape and material stiffness.In order to examine the mechanics of superficial neuromasts, McHenry and collaborators will uselarval zebrafish because their transparent bodies allow superficial neuromasts to easily be observed andmanipulated. By measuring the deflection of neuromasts in response to a push by a force probe, they willcalculate their material stiffness. The shape of neuromasts will be measured from a series of high-resolutionimages at varying distance away from the body's surface. These measurements will provide the basis of amathematical model that treats the neuromast as a flexible beam anchored to a stiff spring.This model will allow investigators to consider how flow speed affects the signals filtered by theneuromasts and how different neuromast shapes and their position on the body affects the signals that theydetect. With this understanding for the mechanics of superficial neuromasts, neurobiologists andbehavioral biologists may consider what mechanical signals the lateral line system uses for schooling,obstacle avoidance, and predator/prey interactions.

“斑马鱼侧线系统的微观力学”项目描述。鱼有第六感，能探测身体周围的水流。这种能力被称为“远距离接触”或侧线感觉，使鱼类能够找到溪流的流向，在黑暗中发现障碍物，协调鱼群，定位猎物，并避开捕食者。尽管侧线感觉对鱼类的行为和生态具有广泛的重要性，但人们并不清楚侧线器官从其环境中提取了什么机械信息。麦克亨利博士提出的这项研究将检查单个侧线结构的力学机制，以了解它们是如何过滤有助于感觉水流的机械信号的。侧线通过从身体表面突出的一系列微观的指状结构来检测水的运动。每个结构被称为浅层神经肥大，由胶状圆柱体组成，圆柱体底部固定在一组毛细胞上，毛细胞是在人类耳朵中发现的机械感觉细胞类型。水在身体表面的运动会导致神经肥大的偏转，毛细胞将其转化为神经信号。这种信号的性质取决于神经肥大对流动的反应程度，这取决于它的形状和材料硬度。为了研究浅层神经肥大的机制，麦克亨利和他的合作者将使用斑马鱼，因为它们透明的身体使得浅层神经肥大很容易被观察和操纵。通过测量神经桅杆对力探头推力的响应，他们将计算出它们的材料刚度。神经肥大的形状将通过距离人体表面不同距离的一系列高分辨率图像进行测量。这些测量将提供一个数学模型的基础，该模型将神经肥大视为固定在刚性弹簧上的柔性梁。该模型将允许研究人员考虑流速如何影响神经肥大过滤的信号，以及不同的神经肥大形状及其在身体上的位置如何影响他们检测到的信号。有了这种对浅层神经肥大的机制的理解，神经生物学家和行为生物学家可能会考虑侧线系统使用什么机械信号来学习、避障和捕食者/猎物的相互作用。