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

为了理解淡水水螅神经系统自组装的物理和生物学原理，PI提出了理论家和实验学家之间的合作，将重点放在这个问题上。PI将在Hydra重新聚集期间对每个神经元和肌肉细胞的活动进行成像，并使用新的成像，统计和数学工具对其进行分析，将神经元和肌肉活动中出现的相变与特定行为的出现相关联。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，软物质物理学，机器人和网络科学产生重要影响。由于Hydra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成为可能;这项工作将对神经再生领域产生未来的影响。为跟踪移动和扭曲动物的神经元而开发的技术将被广泛使用，并将用于其他系统。建议的综合成像/计算方法的九头蛇的研究将作为一个具有吸引力的平台，为广大公众介绍数学神经科学，并为各级学生提供培训机会。特别是，Hydra系统可以深入融入海洋生物实验室的全方位课程，并为来自不同背景的学生提供交叉项目。生物有机体最吸引人的方面之一是它们的自我组装：身体在没有外部指导的情况下将自己组装在一起，产生强大，有弹性和适应性的生命系统。这在刺胞动物Hydra vulgaris中尤为明显。这种小而透明的息肉具有独特的再生特性，表现在其身体分解成单个细胞后完全再生的能力。这种非凡的自我组装，再生一个正常的动物，是在几天内完成的，在显微镜下的培养皿中强劲地发生，令人惊讶的是尚未被系统地研究。这个项目深入到这个问题的核心，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/法国合作项目得到了美国国家科学基金会和法国国家研究机构的支持，其中NSF资助美国调查员，ANR资助法国的合作伙伴。该奖项反映了NSF的法定使命，并被认为值得通过以下方式提供支持：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。

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.