Morphology and function of commissural interneurons

描述（由申请人提供）：本提案的主要目标是研究感觉刺激如何影响不同运动行为期间的连合中间神经元。在我们开始研究这个问题之前，我们必须首先对连合中间神经元的多样性和功能的范围有一个深刻的理解。透明的斑马鱼幼鱼作为脊椎动物系统的模型已经迅速发展起来，可以利用先进的成像和遗传技术研究活体神经回路。以前，由于注射伪影，连合中间神经元难以使用传统的逆行技术识别。我们将使用一种新的方法，遗传引入钙成像染料可视化，从而识别类连合中间神经元的基础上，他们的三维形态和钙流量信号在不同的行为。然后，我们将使用成对的电生理贴片记录测试特定类别的连合中间神经元与大的，容易识别的Rohon-Beard感觉细胞的突触连接性，这些感觉细胞用已知大小的物理刺激激发。这将使我们能够广泛地评估在脊椎动物的不同运动行为过程中，环境刺激是如何在细胞水平上被处理的。

DESCRIPTION (provided by applicant): The broad goals of this proposal are to examine how sensory stimuli affect commissural interneurons during different motor behaviors. Before we can attack this question, it is imperative that we first establish a strong understanding of the scope of commissural interneuron diversity and function. Transparent, larval zebrafish have burgeoned as a model vertebrate system to study neural circuits in vivo using elegant imaging and genetic techniques. Previously, commissural interneurons were difficult to identify using traditional retrograde techniques due to injection artifacts. We will use a novel method to genetically introduce calcium imaging dyes to visualize and therefore identify classes of commissural interneurons based on their three dimensional morphology and calcium flux signals during different behaviors. We will then use pair-wise electrophysiological patch recordings to test the synaptic connectivity of specific classes of commissural interneurons with large, easily-identified Rohon-Beard sensory cells excited with a physical stimulus of known magnitude. This will allow us to broadly evaluate how environmental stimuli are processed at the cellular level during different motor behaviors in vertebrates.