Collaborative Research: NCS-FR: Understanding the neuropeptide modulation of brain circuits by advanced nanomaterials and imaging

人类大脑的活动是由一组称为神经调质的分子改变的。然而，由于工具不足，人们对这些分子如何工作和影响大脑活动知之甚少。该项目旨在开发一个最先进的工具箱来研究这些重要的分子。这些新工具将使科学家能够跟踪大脑中神经调质的运动，确定它们对大脑回路的作用，并揭示它们如何改变行为。跨学科团队采用广泛的方法，将生物工程，细胞生理学，全脑成像和行为相结合，以开发和优化这些工具。该项目的完成将产生若干广泛的影响。科学家们将有机会获得一套新的工具，用于打开或关闭使用光的清醒动物大脑特定区域的神经调质传递。这些结果将促进我们对神经调节剂如何影响局部大脑区域和整个大脑的大脑活动的理解。该合作团队将为研究生和博士后研究人员提供纳米技术，工程，化学和神经科学领域的尖端技术的跨学科培训。该项目将通过实验室和社区外展计划为K-12学生提供STEM教育。最后，该项目还将为妇女和代表性不足的少数民族提供指导和研究机会。神经肽是大脑中重要的神经调质，但对它们的时空分布、对神经回路的作用和对行为的影响知之甚少。该提案的重点是开发新的神经技术，以研究时空控制释放后的神经肽扩散（线程1），它们对大脑回路和行为的作用（线程2），以及全脑和回路特定的激活模式（线程3）。具体来说，这项工作将开发和理解一类新的光开关纳米囊泡，可以用广泛使用的二极管激光器和发光二极管激活。我们将整合这与神经肽传感器，即基于细胞的神经递质荧光工程受体（CNiFER），研究神经肽（生长抑素，催产素）扩散在皮质和纹状体的光释放。然后，我们将研究光释放的催产素对自由移动动物的大脑回路和社会行为的影响。这些努力与一种新的基于荧光共振能量转移（FRET）的微型显微镜的开发紧密结合，以检测行为释放的神经递质。通过多模态功能磁共振成像平台，这项研究将确定光释放催产素的全脑和回路特异性激活模式，从而首次实现确定局部神经肽信号传导与全脑效应的整合。这些新开发的技术将推进我们对神经调节剂在大脑中作用的理解，更广泛地说，促进新的神经药理学研究，其中靶向递送和局部释放的化合物目前是不可用的。这个奖项反映了NSF的法定使命，并已被认为是值得通过使用基金会的智力价值和更广泛的影响审查标准进行评估的支持。

Human brain activity is modified by a group of molecules called neuromodulators. However, little is known about how these molecules work and affect brain activity, due to inadequate tools. This project seeks to develop a state-of-the-art toolbox to study these important molecules. These new tools will enable scientists to track the movement of neuromodulators in the brain, determine their action on brain circuits, and reveal how they alter behavior. The interdisciplinary team takes a broad approach of combining bioengineering, cellular physiology, whole-brain imaging and behavior to develop and optimize these tools. Completion of this project will have several broad impacts. Scientifically, researchers will have access to a new set of tools for turning on or off the delivery of neuromodulators to specific regions of the brain in awake animals using light. The results will advance our understanding of how neuromodulators impact brain activity in localized brain regions and across the brain. The collaborative team will provide interdisciplinary training for graduate students and postdoctoral researchers with cutting-edge technologies in the fields of nanotechnology, engineering, chemistry, and neuroscience. This project will provide STEM education to K-12 students both in the lab and through community outreach programs. Finally, this project will also offer mentoring and research opportunities for women and underrepresented minorities.Neuropeptides are important neuromodulators in the brain and yet remarkably little is known about their spatiotemporal spread, action on neural circuits, and effect on behavior. This proposal focuses on developing new neurotechnologies to study neuropeptide diffusion upon spatiotemporally controlled release (thread 1), their actions on brain circuits and behavior (thread 2), and brain-wide and circuit-specific activation patterns (thread 3). Specifically, this work will develop and understand a new class of photoswitchable nanovesicles that can be activated with widely available diode lasers and light emitting diodes. We will integrate this with a neuropeptide sensor, namely the cell-based neurotransmitter fluorescent-engineered receptor (CNiFER), to study neuropeptide (somatostatin, oxytocin) diffusion in the cortex and striatum upon photorelease. We will then investigate the impact of photoreleased oxytocin on brain circuits and social behavior in freely-moving animals. These efforts are closely integrated with the development of a new fluorescence resonance energy transfer (FRET)-based miniscope to detect behaviorally released neurotransmitters. Through a multi-modal functional magnetic resonance imaging platform, this research will determine the brain-wide and circuit- specific activation patterns of photoreleased oxytocin, thus enabling for the first time the integration of determining local neuropeptide signaling with brain-wide effects. These newly developed techniques will advance our understanding of the role of neuromodulators in the brain and more broadly, promote new neuropharmacology research where targeted delivery and localized release of a compound are currently unavailable.This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.