A RE-EXPLORATION OF THE ORIGIN OF NEURONS

神经元起源的重新探索

• 批准号: 6015430
• 负责人: Nathan Tublitz
• 金额: $ 4.63万
• 依托单位: UNIVERSITY OF OREGON
• 依托单位国家: 美国
• 财政年份: 2001
• 资助国家: 美国
• 起止时间: 2001-09-30 至
• 项目状态: 未结题
• 来源: https://reporter.nih.gov/project-details/6015430
• 关键词: Drosophilidae; antibody; antigen antibody reaction; calcium channel; developmental neurobiology; gene expression; in situ hybridization; mesoderm; neurogenesis; neurons; neuropeptides; protein structure function; tissue /cell culture; voltage gated channel; western blottings

The goal of this research is to re-explore the developmental origin of neurons, the cells of the central nervous system. The universally held view is that all neurons arise from the ectoderm, one of the three primary germ layers during embryogenesis. This conclusion, based on numerous fate mapping and cell lineage studies, is undoubtably true for the majority of neurons, but is it true for all neurons? My recent work on the Midline Mesodermal Cells (MMCs) in fruit fly Drosophila melanogaster raises the interesting hypothesis that cells with a neuronal function need not always be ectodermally derived. This hypothesis will be critically examined in the proposed using the MMCs, a set of 20 cells in flies which are unequivocally mesodermal in origin yet exhibit a number of neuronal properties. They have a prominent cell body, two primary processes projecting out a specific nerve to a specific skeletal muscle, express several neural-specific markers, have voltage dependent channels, receive synaptic-like inputs, and affect several target tissues. The two aims in this study address the remaining criteria for neuronal status, namely whether the MMCs express and release neurotransmitter-like molecules. Successful results will provide the first clear cut example of neurons arising from a non-ectodermal lineage.

这项研究的目标是重新探索神经元的发育起源，神经元是中枢神经系统的细胞。普遍的观点是，所有的神经元都来自外胚层，外胚层是胚胎发育过程中的三个主要胚层之一。这一结论基于大量的命运图谱和细胞谱系研究，对大多数神经元来说无疑是正确的，但对所有神经元来说都是正确的吗？我最近对果蝇中线中胚层细胞(MMC)的研究提出了一个有趣的假设，即具有神经元功能的细胞不一定总是来自外胚层。这一假设将在使用MMCs的建议中得到严格检验，MMCs是一组由20个果蝇细胞组成的细胞，它们明确地起源于中胚层，但表现出许多神经元特性。它们有一个突出的细胞体，两个初级突起将特定的神经投射到特定的骨骼肌，表达几个神经特异的标记，具有电压依赖的通道，接受突触样输入，并影响几个靶组织。这项研究的两个目的是解决神经元状态的剩余标准，即MMCs是否表达和释放神经递质样分子。成功的结果将提供第一个明确的神经元起源于非外胚层谱系的例子。