The neuroendocrine stress axis in amphibian development and physiology

该奖项是根据2009年《美国复苏和再投资法案》(公法111-5)资助的。在生命早期暴露于压力会对晚年的生理和行为产生深远的影响，这可能会改变个人的成长、竞争资源和繁殖的能力，或者可能使他们更容易患病。在发育早期，压力的影响很可能是通过压力荷尔蒙(糖皮质激素)水平的升高来调节的，应激荷尔蒙(糖皮质激素)的水平被用来‘编程’大脑和其他器官中的基因表达，导致生理功能的长期稳定变化。这项研究正在调查糖皮质激素在形成神经内分泌应激轴的发展中所起的作用，神经内分泌应激轴在控制行为和生理方面起着关键作用。在这项工作中，研究人员使用了热带非洲爪蛙的蝌蚪和幼体。这项研究是多学科的，依赖于免疫组织化学、内分泌和行为方法，以及最先进的分子遗传学和全基因组分析。这项研究将提供脊椎动物早期应激改变后期生命生理和行为的生理和分子机制的基础知识。这项工作对于了解环境退化对两栖动物种群健康的影响也很重要。在蝌蚪阶段对环境的侮辱可能会导致持久的影响，可能会影响成虫的繁殖力和存活率，从而导致种群下降和灭绝。了解这一潜力和涉及的机制对于制定有效的保护战略至关重要。这项资助支持培养一名博士后科学家和一名女博士研究生，并为本科生荣誉学生提供参与研究的机会，这些研究将鼓励他们追求科学事业。

This award is funded under the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 (Public Law 111-5).Exposure to stress early in life can have profound effects on physiology and behavior later in life, which may alter the ability of individuals to grow, compete for resources and reproduce, or may predispose them to disease. The effects of stress during early development are likely to be mediated by elevated levels of stress hormones (glucocorticoids) that serve to 'program' gene expression in the brain and other organs, leading to stable, long term changes in physiological function. This research is investigating the roles that glucocorticoids play in shaping the development of the neuroendocrine stress axis, which plays a key role in controlling behavior and physiology. For this work the investigators are using tadpoles and juveniles of the frog Xenopus tropicalis. The research is multidisciplinary, relying on immunohistochemical, endocrine, and behavioral approaches, and state-of-the-art molecular genetic and genome-wide analyses. This research will provide basic knowledge of the physiological and molecular mechanisms by which early life stress alters later life physiology and behavior in vertebrates. This work is also important for understanding the impacts of environmental degradation on the health of amphibian populations. Environmental insults during the tadpole stage can lead to lasting effects that could impact adult fecundity and survival, and thus contribute to population declines and extinctions. Understanding this potential, and the mechanisms involved is essential to devising effective conservation strategies. This grant supports the training of a postdoctoral scientist, a woman Ph.D. graduate student, and provides opportunities for undergraduate honors students to participate in research that will encourage the pursuit of careers in science.