Identity of the neurotransmitter at a fast chemical synapse in a cnidarian

刺胞动物门（海葵、珊瑚、水母）的成员代表了最早拥有神经系统的动物群体之一。就其本身而言，它们提供了一个基线，从中可以追踪整个神经系统的进化，以及神经系统的分子构建块。尽管我们对这些动物神经系统的功能有相当多的了解，但对这些动物神经生物学最基本的方面之一知之甚少，特别是这些动物在神经系统中普遍存在的快速化学突触中使用的神经递质的身份。为了解决这个问题，研究人员将结合电生理学、细胞和分子生物学技术来识别水母（Cyanea capillata）神经系统突触中的神经递质。该项目将极大地促进对神经系统进化的理解，并将提供有关高级神经系统（包括人类神经系统）使用的神经递质进化谱系的重要信息。由于参与惠特尼实验室REU项目的本科生将包括在这项工作中，因此该项目的广泛影响将是相当大的。此外，惠特尼实验室有一个广泛的教育推广计划，涉及当地社区的各个部门，包括小学。这个项目的成果将通过展览和其他形式的交流传达给这些观众，从而有助于他们的训练以及他们对科学的欣赏和理解。

Members of the Phylum Cnidaria (sea anemones, corals, jellyfish) represent one of the earliest groups of animals to possess a nervous system. As such, they provide a baseline from which to track the evolution of nervous systems as a whole, and of the molecular building blocks of the nervous system. Despite considerable knowledge about the capabilities of the nervous systems of these animals, very little is known about one of the most fundamental aspects of the neurobiology of these animals, specifically the identity of the neurotransmitters used by these animals at the fast chemical synapses that are so prevalent in their nervous systems. To address this question the researchers will employ a combination of electrophysiological and cell and molecular biological techniques to identify the neurotransmitter at synapses within the nervous system of the jellyfish Cyanea capillata. This project will contribute enormously to understanding of nervous system evolution and will provide important information about the evolutionary lineages of the neurotransmitters used by higher nervous systems, including that of humans. The broader impacts of this project promise to be considerable inasmuch as undergraduates participating in the Whitney Laboratory's REU program will be included in the work. Furthermore, the Whitney Laboratory has an extensive program of educational outreach to diverse sectors of the local community, including grade schools. The results from this project will be conveyed to these audiences by displays and other forms of communication, thereby contributing to their training and their appreciation and understanding of science.