MUSCLE RECEPTORS

这项研究旨在增加我们对感官的理解 体细胞机械感受器中的转导。 这些受体有助于 各种各样的感觉系统将机械力 传递到中枢神经系统的神经信号 系统 关于基本原理的信息很少 转导过程的步骤。 我们建议研究 分离的哺乳动物肌梭的初级末端， 一个特别有利的准备直接接近 问题是因为：能够孤立地研究它， 相对较大的有髓分支及其 终端，在我们的孤立结构的可访问性 去封装的制剂和可视化其结构的能力 显微镜下。 利用新开发的成像技术， 膜片钳，我们将调查：1）电导的变化 在机械应力作用下发生在神经末梢 以及牵张激活通道的特性。 2)的 由电导产生的电势的扩展沿着 末梢和冲动部位的有髓分支 引发，和3）的结构的定量研究， 初级末端它的有髓分支和无髓分支 终端，这将使我们能够得出一个电气模型的 结局 这对于解释一个 对结局中整个转导过程的理解。 对转导的基本机制的了解可能是非常重要的 对于理解许多影响感官的疾病很重要， 系统.

This research aims to increase our understanding of sensory transduction in somatic mechanoreceptors. Such receptors subserve a wide variety of sensory systems which convert mechanical forces to neural signals which are transmitted to the central nervous system. Very little information is available on the fundamental steps of the transduction process. We propose a study on the primary ending of the isolated mammalian muscle spindle which is an especially favorable preparation for a direct approach on the problem because of: the ability to study it in isolation, the relatively large size of the myelinated branches and their terminals, the accessibility of structures in our isolated decapsulated preparation and the ability to visualize its structure microscopically. Using newly developed techniques of imaging and patch clamping, we will investigate: 1) the conductance changes which occur in the nerve terminals in response to mechanical stress and the characteristics of stretch-activated channels. 2) the spread of potentials produced by the conductance changes along the myelinated branches of the ending and the site of impulse initiation, and 3) a quantitative study of the structure of the primary ending both its myelinated branches and unmyelinated terminals, which will allow us to derive an electrical model of the ending. This is essential for the interpretation of an understanding of the overall transduction process in the ending. Knowledge of the basic mechanisms of transduction may be very important for the understanding of many disorders affecting sensory systems.