Computational connectomics of the cockroach circadian clock

蟑螂生物钟的计算连接组学

• 批准号: 346385753
• 负责人: Professor Dr. Hanspeter Herzel
• 金额: --
• 依托单位: Institut für Theoretische Biologie (ITB) (CCM)
• 依托单位国家: 德国
• 项目类别: Priority Programmes
• 财政年份: 2017
• 资助国家: 德国
• 起止时间: 2016-12-31 至 2022-12-31
• 项目状态: 已结题
• 来源: https://gepris.dfg.de/gepris/projekt/346385753?language=en
• 关键词: Computational; connectomics; cockroach; circadian; clock

The Madeira cockroach is an established model in chronobiology. The cockroach circadian clock in the brain is innervated by ~240 neuropeptidergic neurons. We characterize the connectivity map of neuropeptidergic circadian clock neurons that control rest/activity (sleep/wake) rhythms and study its plasticity in changing photoperiods. Next to direct synaptic interactions clock neurons connect via neuropeptide signaling. Neuropeptides are abundant in brains of invertebrates and mammals alike. They are suggested to reconfigure widely distributed brain circuits to accommodate genetically encoded physiological-behavioral contexts via mostly unknown mechanisms. In the cockroach clock rhythmic neuropeptid release generates distributed ensembles of synchronously spiking clock neurons in the gamma frequency range, reminiscent of gamma band synchronization in the mammalian brain. We suggest a new hypothesis of neuropeptide function via labeled line-encoding that we want to challenge with neuroanatomical and electrophysiological studies combined with quantitative modelling and innovative data analysis. We form a group of experts from Biology, Neuro-Computation, Physics, Mathematics, and Electrical Engineering to unravel the connectomics of the cockroach clock. Since structure and functions of the cockroach- and the mammalian circadian clocks display striking similarity the study of the much simpler neuronal network in this ancient insect order will promise to provide interesting insights.

马德拉蟑螂是时间生物学中的既定模型。蟑螂大脑中的生物钟由约 240 个神经肽能神经元支配。我们表征了控制休息/活动（睡眠/觉醒）节律的神经肽能生物钟神经元的连接图，并研究了其在光周期变化中的可塑性。除了直接突触相互作用之外，时钟神经元还通过神经肽信号传导进行连接。无脊椎动物和哺乳动物的大脑中都富含神经肽。建议他们重新配置广泛分布的大脑回路，以通过大多数未知的机制来适应基因编码的生理行为环境。在蟑螂时钟中，有节奏的神经肽释放会在伽马频率范围内产生同步尖峰时钟神经元的分布式集合，让人想起哺乳动物大脑中的伽马带同步。我们通过标记线编码提出了一种神经肽功能的新假设，我们希望通过神经解剖学和电生理学研究结合定量建模和创新数据分析来挑战这一假设。我们组建了一组来自生物学、神经计算、物理学、数学和电气工程的专家来解开蟑螂钟的连接组学。由于蟑螂和哺乳动物生物钟的结构和功能表现出惊人的相似性，因此对这种古老昆虫中更简单的神经元网络的研究将有望提供有趣的见解。