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

为了了解淡水水龙神经系统自组装背后的物理和生物学原理，PI提出了一个理论家和实验学家之间的合作，将重点放在这个问题上。PI将成像Hydra重新聚集过程中每个神经元和肌肉细胞的活动，并使用新的成像、统计和数学工具进行分析，将神经元和肌肉活动中的相变与特定行为的出现关联起来。这项工作将提供对自组装算法和机制的深入见解，对控制理论、神经科学、软物质物理、机器人学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有机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。为跟踪运动和扭曲动物中的神经元而开发的技术将被广泛使用，并将在其他系统中使用。利用拟议的成像/计算综合方法对九头蛇进行研究，将成为一个富有想象力的平台，提供一系列推广机会，向普通公众介绍数学神经科学，并为所有级别的学生提供培训机会。特别是，九头蛇系统可以深度整合到海洋生物实验室的所有课程中，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，产生健壮、有弹性和适应性的生命系统。这在九头蛇身上尤为戏剧性。这种小而透明的息肉具有独特的再生特性，表现在它的身体被分离成单独的细胞后完全再生的能力。这种了不起的自我组装，再生一只正常的动物，在几天内就完成了，在显微镜下强劲地出现在培养皿中，令人惊讶的是，还没有系统地研究过。这个项目切中了这个问题的核心，并将应用现代神经科学和计算方法的最新工具包来解决这个根本问题。这个美法合作项目得到了美国国家科学基金会和法国国家科学基金会的支持，其中NSF资助美国的研究人员，ANR资助法国的合作伙伴。该奖项反映了NSF的法定使命，并通过使用基金会的智力优势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.