INFLUENCE OF MELATONIN ON NEUROREGENERATION IN CRUSTACEANS

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This subproject is one of many research subprojects utilizing the resources provided by a Center grant funded by NIH/NCRR. The subproject and investigator (PI) may have received primary funding from another NIH source, and thus could be represented in other CRISP entries. The institution listed is for the Center, which is not necessarily the institution for the investigator. The aims of this pilot project are to establish a model system for monitoring neurite outgrowth in crustaceans and to study the influence of melatonin at the cellular and molecular levels on this process. Melatonin affects neurite growth and function in regions of the vertebrate brain, though the mechanisms are not yet known. Crustaceans provide robust and analogous systems for a variety of biomedical studies. In the first year of the project, we identified cell types that could be cultured to provide an assay for neurite growth. These cells came from the x-organ, a neurosecretory structure in the crustacean eyestalk.