US-German Collaboration: The effects of chloride dynamics in cerebellar computation

虽然抑制性突触只是神经系统中所有连接的一小部分，但没有它们，大脑就无法运作，动物就会死亡。大多数抑制性突触是由突触被激活时流经细胞膜的氯电流介导的。 本项目的目的是量化细胞内氯离子浓度变化对抑制性突触强度的影响。为此，德国海德堡大学设计的遗传编码分子将在圣安东尼奥德克萨斯大学（UTSA）的小脑浦肯野细胞中表达。这些细胞参与运动控制和学习。 这些变化将在UTSA用最先进的显微镜进行测量，结果将与德国法兰克福歌德大学的合作者分享。通过合作，UTSA和德国团队将开发计算机模型，用于预测浦肯野细胞在复杂的感觉和运动任务中抑制性突触的行为。这些模型将用于确定小脑皮质如何在由于神经元的复杂结构或由于细胞代谢变化而导致氯变化的条件下处理运动和感觉信息。从该项目获得的结果将确定氯浓度的变化如何有助于大脑的正常功能。此外，UTSA是一所少数民族服务机构，通过提供与德国大学合作研究的机会，将加强和丰富学生的教育。

Although inhibitory synapses are only a small fraction of all the connections present in the nervous system, without them brains cannot function and animals die. A large majority of inhibitory synapses are mediated by chloride currents that flow through the cell membrane when the synapses are activated. The objective of this project is to quantify the effects of changes in chloride concentration inside cells on the strength of inhibitory synapses. For this purpose a genetically encoded molecule, designed at the University of Heidelberg in Germany, will be expressed in Purkinje cells in the cerebellum at the University of Texas at San Antonio (UTSA). These cells are involved in motor control and learning. These changes will be measured with a state-of-the art microscope at UTSA, and the results will be shared with collaborators at Goethe University in Frankfurt, Germany. In collaboration, the UTSA and German teams will develop computer models that will be used to predict the behavior of inhibitory synapses on Purkinje cells during complex sensory and motor tasks. These models will be used to determine how the cerebellar cortex processes motor and sensory information under conditions in which chloride changes due to the complex structure of neurons or due to changes in the metabolism of cells. The results obtained from this project will determine how changes in chloride concentration contribute to the normal functioning of the brain. Furthermore, the education of students at UTSA, a minority serving institution, will be enhanced and enriched by offering opportunities to do collaborative research with German Universities.A companion project is being funded by the German Ministry of Education and Research (BMBF).