Center for Neuroanatomy with Neurotropic Viruses

描述(由申请人提供)： 在过去的十年里，使用病毒来定义神经回路的突触组织经历了爆炸性的增长。这种实验方法是对神经系统功能结构提供多突触视角的最广泛使用的方法。因此，它已被证明在神经科学家中越来越受欢迎，他们的目标是定义致力于特定功能的神经元群体的整体组织。这项申请的目标是建立一个最先进的国家资源中心，该中心将a)为那些对使用病毒跨神经元追踪感兴趣的人提供技术和智力资源，b)开发改进的跨神经元追踪技术，并通过访问中心资源和培训使其可供美国各地的研究人员使用，c)作为该方法应用所必需的具有良好特征的试剂的储存库，以及d)促进对潜在病毒神经侵袭和发病机制的多学科合作研究。我们建立这个国家资源中心的努力基于五个基本原则。首先，人们普遍认为，该方法为神经回路的功能解剖提供了一种强大的手段，但实施这些程序是一项代价高昂的努力，超出了大多数研究人员的能力范围。其次，最近的文献清楚地表明，可以寻求有价值和重要的途径来改进这项技术。一个中心将提供必要的资源和重点，以促进这项技术的发展并使其更广泛地可用。第三，有历史先例表明，这一领域的多学科研究迅速推动了对多个领域基本原则的理解。一个中心将为发展这种互动提供重点和平台。第四，匹兹堡大学是数量惊人的调查人员的所在地，他们在这一方法的开发和应用方面具有影响力，并与其他同样具有影响力的知名调查人员保持着富有成效的合作关系。因此，该中心将在相对较短的时间内建立并取得成功。第五，匹兹堡大学已经有了满足在包括非人类灵长类动物在内的多种物种中使用阿尔法疱疹病毒和狂犬病病毒的独特要求的特殊设施。总而言之，这些观察结果支持了这样的结论，即在匹兹堡大学建立一个中心将提供一个独特的国家资源，将大大有助于努力提高我们对神经系统功能和组织的理解。

DESCRIPTION (provided by applicant): The use of viruses to define the synaptic organization of neuronal circuitry has experienced an explosive growth over the past decade. This experimental approach is the most widely used method to provide a polysynaptic perspective on the functional architecture of the nervous system. Consequently, it has proven to be increasingly popular among neuroscientists whose goal is to define ensemble organization of populations of neurons devoted to specific functions. The goal of this application is to establish a state of the art National Resource Center that will a) serve as a technical and intellectual resource for those interested in using viral transneuronal tracing, b) develop improved transneuronal tracing technologies and make them available to investigators throughout the United States via access to center resources and training, c) serve as a repository for well-characterized reagents essential to the application of the method, and d) stimulate collaborative multidisciplinary studies of mechanisms underlying viral neuroinvasiveness and pathogenesis. Our efforts to establish this National Resource Center are based upon five fundamental tenets. First, there is a general consensus that the method offers a powerful means for functional dissection of neural circuitry, but implementation of the procedures is a costly endeavor beyond the reach of most investigators. Second, recent literature clearly demonstrates that there are valuable and important avenues that can be pursued to improve this technology. A Center would provide the necessary resources and focus to energize this technology development and make it more widely available. Third, there is historical precedent demonstrating that multidisciplinary research in this area rapidly advances the understanding of fundamental principles in multiple fields. A Center would provide the focus and platform for developing such interactions. Fourth, the University of Pittsburgh is the home for a surprising number of investigators who have been influential in the development and application of this methodology and also have productive collaborative relations with other prominent investigators who have been similarly influential. Thus, the Center would be established and successful within a relatively short period of time. Fifth, special facilities already exist at the University of Pittsburgh that meet the unique requirements for the use of alpha herpesviruses and rabies virus in multiple species, including non-human primates. Collectively, these observations support the conclusion that establishment of a Center at the University of Pittsburgh will provide a unique National Resource that will contribute substantially to efforts to improve our understanding of nervous system function and organization.