NSF-ANR: REBIRTH: Understanding The Self-Assembly Of The Nervous System of Hydra Vulgaris

为了理解淡水水螅（Hydra vulgaris）神经系统自我组装背后的物理和生物学原理，pi提议在理论家和实验家之间开展合作，将重点放在这个问题上。pi将在Hydra重新聚集过程中对每个神经元和肌肉细胞的活动进行成像，并使用新颖的成像，统计和数学工具进行分析，将神经元和肌肉活动中的相变的出现与特定行为的出现联系起来。这项工作将为自组装的算法和机制提供深入的见解，对控制理论、神经科学、软物质物理、机器人和网络科学具有重要影响。由于九头蛇的极端再生能力，这项工作可能使具有神经系统的生物体的合成生物学；这项工作将对未来的神经再生领域产生影响。用于跟踪运动和扭曲动物的神经元的技术将得到广泛应用，并将在其他系统中使用。Hydra的研究与所提出的综合成像/计算方法将作为一个富有想象力的吸引人的平台，为公众介绍数学神经科学提供一系列的推广机会，并为各级学生提供培训机会。特别是，Hydra系统可以深度集成到海洋生物实验室的所有课程中，并为不同背景的学生提供跨领域的项目。生物有机体最令人着迷的一个方面是它们的自我组装：身体在没有外界指示的情况下将自己组装在一起，从而产生健壮、有弹性和适应性的生命系统。这在刺胞动物Hydra vulgaris中尤其引人注目。这种小而透明的息肉具有独特的再生特性，在其身体被分解成单个细胞后能够完全再生。这种非凡的自我组装，使正常动物再生，在几天内完成，在显微镜下的培养皿中健壮地发生，令人惊讶的是，尚未被系统地研究过。这个项目进入了这个问题的核心，并将应用现代神经科学和计算方法的最先进的工具集来解决这个基本问题。这个美国/法国合作项目由美国国家科学基金会和法国国家研究机构支持，其中美国国家科学基金会资助美国研究者，法国国家研究机构资助法国合作伙伴。该奖项反映了美国国家科学基金会的法定使命，并通过使用基金会的知识价值和更广泛的影响审查标准进行评估，被认为值得支持。

To understand the physical and biological principles underlying the self-assembly of the nervous system of the fresh-water polyp Hydra vulgaris, the PIs propose a collaboration between theoreticians and experimentalists that will focus on this problem. The PIs will image the activity of every neuron and muscle cell during re-aggregation of Hydra, and analyze it with novel imaging, statistical and mathematical tools, correlating the emergence of phase transitions in the neuronal and muscle activity with the appearance of specific behaviors. This work will provide a deep insight into algorithms and mechanisms of self-assembly, with important repercussions for control theory, neuroscience, soft-matter physics, robotics and network science. Due to Hydra's extreme regenerative ability, this work may enable synthetic biology of an organism with a nervous system; and the work will have future repercussions for the field of neuroregeneration. The techniques developed for tracking of neurons in a moving and distorting animal will be made widely available and will be of use in other systems. The study of Hydra with the proposed integrated imaging/computational approach will serve as an imaginatively appealing platform for a range of outreach opportunities introducing members of the general public to mathematical neuroscience, and training opportunities for students at all levels. In particular, the Hydra system can be deeply integrated into the full spectrum of courses at the Marine Biological Laboratory and provide cross-cutting projects for students from diverse backgrounds.One of the most fascinating aspects of biological organisms is their self-assembly: bodies put themselves together without external directions, to yield robust, resilient and adaptive living systems. This is particular dramatic in the cnidarian Hydra vulgaris. This small, transparent polyp has unique regenerative properties, demonstrated in the ability to completely regenerate itself after its body has been dissociated into individual cells. This remarkable self assembly, regenerating a normal animal, is complete within a few days, occurs robustly in culture dishes under a microscope and has surprisingly not yet been studied systematically. This project goes to the heart of this problem and will apply the a state-of-the-art toolset of modern neuroscience and computational approaches to this fundamental problem.This collaborative US/France project is supported by the US National Science Foundation and the French Agence Nationale de la Recherche, where NSF funds the US investigator and ANR funds the partners in France.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.