SENSORY DISCRIMINATION IN A C ELEGANS NEURAL CIRCUIT

线虫神经回路中的感觉辨别

• 批准号: 6682819
• 负责人: JAMES B WHITE
• 金额: $ 4.81万
• 依托单位: UNIVERSITY OF UTAH
• 依托单位国家: 美国
• 财政年份: 2002
• 资助国家: 美国
• 起止时间: 2002-02-01 至
• 项目状态: 未结题
• 来源: https://reporter.nih.gov/project-details/6682819
• 关键词: Caenorhabditis elegans; gene deletion mutation; interneurons; molecular cloning; neural information processing; neural transmission; neurogenetics; neuropeptides; sensory discrimination; synapses

C elegans discriminates between the different stimuli of nose touch, high osmolarity, and volatile repellents. These stimuli are selectively detected and separately transduced by the ASH sensory neurons, and response is coordinated by a simple, ASH-activated neural circuit. Understanding how sensory information is transmitted to produce a response requires understanding both the activity of the circuit and the molecular machinery that drives the activity. I will visualize the activities of the ASH neurons and their synaptic targets using different fluorescent protein probes to detect membrane depolarization, general synaptic vesicle release, and specific neuropeptide release in intact animals. To understand a component of the sensory machinery, I will clone and characterize a gene likely to be involved in the response to specific stimuli, specifically, the gene corresponding to the rt40 mutation. It has previously been hypothesized that ASH-specific neuropeptides act as neurotransmitters to separately transduce information specific to a particular stimulus. To understand separate encoding of particular stimuli at the synapse, I will generate mutations in two ASH-specific neuropeptide genes, nlp-3 and n1p-15, and analyze their effect on ASH sensory discrimination and general C. elegans behaviors. This analysis will elucidate how sensory information is selectively detected and separately processed. More broadly, it will define the role of neuropeptides within the ASH neural circuit.

秀丽隐杆线虫区分不同的刺激，鼻子触摸，高渗透压和挥发性驱蚊剂。这些刺激被选择性地检测并分别由ASH感觉神经元转导，反应由一个简单的，ASH激活的神经回路协调。理解感官信息是如何传递并产生反应的，需要理解回路的活动和驱动活动的分子机制。我将可视化ASH神经元及其突触靶点的活动，使用不同的荧光蛋白探针来检测完整动物的膜去极化、一般突触囊泡释放和特异性神经肽释放。为了理解感觉机制的一个组成部分，我将克隆并描述一个可能参与特定刺激反应的基因，特别是与rt40突变相对应的基因。以前的假设是，ash特异性神经肽作为神经递质，分别传递特定刺激的信息。为了了解突触对特定刺激的单独编码，我将产生两个ASH特异性神经肽基因nlp-3和n1p-15的突变，并分析它们对ASH感觉辨别和秀丽隐杆线虫一般行为的影响。这一分析将阐明感官信息是如何被选择性地检测和单独处理的。更广泛地说，它将定义神经肽在ASH神经回路中的作用。