Transcriptional coding of interneuron differentiation

地球上的所有动物，从海懒到昆虫再到人类，都使用一种名为中间神经元的特殊神经元来整合关于它们自己和周围世界的各种信息。大多数动物，无论是无脊椎动物，如昆虫，还是脊椎动物，如鱼和人类，至少有一个大脑区域专门由中间神经元组成。这些区域是思考、决策、学习和记忆所必需的。这个项目将利用分子和遗传方法来研究果蝇黑腹果蝇的一种名为蘑菇体的大脑结构的发育。根据基因表达谱，蘑菇体在某种程度上类似于哺乳动物的前脑，由数千个中间神经元组成。果蝇的蘑菇体也是学习和记忆所必需的，并参与其他复杂的行为，如求爱。这项研究将提高我们对中间神经元在胚胎发育过程中如何连接的理解，并识别参与中间神经元规范和形成的基因和分子。生成的资源和工具将通过ScholarSpace获得，这是夏威夷大学(https://scholarspace.manoa.hawaii.edu/)，)维护的一个数字储存库，也是通过Flybase(http://flybase.org/)和布鲁明顿股票中心)、一个关于果蝇信息的数字储存库和一个由印第安纳大学维护的果蝇种群的实体储存库。该项目还将影响更广泛的社区。这项提案的很大一部分致力于每年向约175名本科生提供假说驱动的研究体验，让这些学生有机会通过参与最先进的神经生物学来学习科学，并向他们灌输从事科学努力所需的知识和信心，并产生描述动物王国的关键特征-大脑-的知识。

All animals on earth, from sea slugs to insects to humans, use a specialized neuron called an interneuron to integrate a wide range of information about themselves and the world around them. Most animals, whether invertebrate such as insects, or vertebrate such as fish and humans, have at least one region of the brain that is made up exclusively of interneurons. These regions are required for thinking, decision making, learning and memory. This project will utilize molecular and genetic approaches to study the development of a brain structure called the mushroom body of the fruit fly, Drosophila melanogaster. The mushroom body is somewhat analogous to the forebrain of mammals based on gene expression profiling and is composed of thousands of interneurons. The mushroom body of fruit fly is also required for learning and memory, and is involved in other complex behaviors such as courtship. This research will improve our understanding of how interneurons are wired during embryonic development and also identify genes and molecules involved in the specification and formation of interneurons. Resources and tools generated will be available through ScholarSpace, a digital repository maintained by the University of Hawaii (https://scholarspace.manoa.hawaii.edu/), and through Flybase (http://flybase.org/) and the Bloomington Stock Center, a digital repository for information about the fruit fly and a physical repository of Drosophila stocks, maintained by Indiana University. This project will also impact a broader community. A significant portion of this proposal is devoted to providing a hypothesis-driven research experience to ~175 undergraduate students each year, giving these students the opportunity to learn science by participating in state-of-the-art Neurobiology, and instilling them with the knowledge and confidence required to pursue the scientific endeavor and generate knowledge that describes a key feature of the animal kingdom, the brain.