A Model of Cellular Pattern Formation in the Growing Retina

神经系统中细胞的精确空间模式有助于确定所执行的神经元计算的类型。然而，控制这些关键细胞模式形成的机制却知之甚少。这个项目的最终目标是识别和描述在成长中的中枢神经系统中控制细胞模式形成的机制。使用视网膜作为模型系统，将使用经验和计算建模技术的多学科组合来实现这一目标。具体地说，来自细胞模式形成的计算模型的预测将得到测试，该模型的关键组件是控制视网膜发育和生长期间细胞出生的时间和位置的信号通路。人体内的许多结构是在细胞水平上非随机组织的，因此这个项目有望提供关于身体在发育过程中如何组装的一般见解。这个项目涉及细胞、计算和定量分析技术的综合组合。研究人员包括一名神经学家和一名生物医学工程师，该项目因此成为一个模型，说明如何将不同的方法和途径结合在一起，共同努力解决发育生物学的一般问题。神经科学研究生和生物工程本科生将积极参与。我们打算让这个项目为学生提供信心，使他们有信心从事未来的研究项目，这些项目涉及新颖的、多学科的方法。

The precise spatial patterns of cells in the nervous system help to determine the types of neuronal computations that are performed. The mechanisms that control the formation of these crucial cellular patterns, however, are poorly understood. The ultimate goal of this project is to identify and characterize the mechanisms that control cellular pattern formation in the growing central nervous system. Using the retina as a model system, a multidisciplinary combination of empirical and computational modeling techniques will be used to work toward this goal. Specifically, predictions arising from a computational model of cellular pattern formation, the key component of which is a signaling pathway that controls the time and location of cell births during retinal development and growth will be tested. Many structures within the body are organized non-randomly at the cellular level, so this project is expected to provide general insights into how the body is assembled during development. This project involves an integrative combination of cellular, computational, and quantitative analysis techniques. The investigators include a neuroscientist, and a biomedical engineer, and the project thus serves as a model for how the disparate methods and approaches can be brought together into a cohesive effort to address a general problem of developmental biology. There will be active participation of a neuroscience graduate student and bioengineering undergraduate students. We intend for this project to provide students with the confidence to pursue future research projects that involve novel, multidisciplinary approaches.