US-German Collaboration: The effects of chloride dynamics in cerebellar computation

尽管抑制性突触只占神经系统中所有连接的一小部分，但如果没有它们，大脑就不能运作，动物就会死亡。大多数抑制性突触是由氯电流介导的，当突触被激活时，氯电流流过细胞膜。这个项目的目的是量化细胞内氯浓度变化对抑制性突触强度的影响。为此，由德国海德堡大学设计的一种基因编码分子将在德克萨斯大学圣安东尼奥分校(UTSA)的小脑Purkinje细胞中表达。这些细胞参与运动控制和学习。这些变化将由UTSA最先进的显微镜测量，结果将与德国法兰克福歌德大学的合作者分享。在合作中，UTSA和德国团队将开发计算机模型，用于预测复杂感觉和运动任务中浦肯野细胞上抑制性突触的行为。这些模型将被用来确定在氯化物因神经元复杂结构或细胞新陈代谢变化而发生变化的情况下，小脑皮质如何处理运动和感觉信息。从这个项目中获得的结果将确定氯浓度的变化如何有助于大脑的正常运作。此外，通过提供与德国大学进行合作研究的机会，将加强和丰富少数族裔服务机构UTSA的学生教育。德国教育和研究部(BMBF)正在资助一个配套项目。

Although inhibitory synapses are only a small fraction of all the connections present in the nervous system, without them brains cannot function and animals die. A large majority of inhibitory synapses are mediated by chloride currents that flow through the cell membrane when the synapses are activated. The objective of this project is to quantify the effects of changes in chloride concentration inside cells on the strength of inhibitory synapses. For this purpose a genetically encoded molecule, designed at the University of Heidelberg in Germany, will be expressed in Purkinje cells in the cerebellum at the University of Texas at San Antonio (UTSA). These cells are involved in motor control and learning. These changes will be measured with a state-of-the art microscope at UTSA, and the results will be shared with collaborators at Goethe University in Frankfurt, Germany. In collaboration, the UTSA and German teams will develop computer models that will be used to predict the behavior of inhibitory synapses on Purkinje cells during complex sensory and motor tasks. These models will be used to determine how the cerebellar cortex processes motor and sensory information under conditions in which chloride changes due to the complex structure of neurons or due to changes in the metabolism of cells. The results obtained from this project will determine how changes in chloride concentration contribute to the normal functioning of the brain. Furthermore, the education of students at UTSA, a minority serving institution, will be enhanced and enriched by offering opportunities to do collaborative research with German Universities.A companion project is being funded by the German Ministry of Education and Research (BMBF).