CNIC: US-India Collaborative Research to Decipher Function and Evolution of GABAergic Neurotransmission in Planaria

1322626 Latha Ramakrishnan这个催化新的国际合作（CNIC）奖支持美国-印度合作研究破译Planaria中GABA能神经传递的功能和进化。州立大学圣克劳德教授Latha Ramakrishnan将与印度加尔各答科学教育和研究所的Priyadarsi De博士开展国际合作，开发用于研究GABA能神经传递的进化和功能的新型试剂。跨学科的研究奋进是设计和制造细胞型靶向纳米材料，用于使用强大的新基因敲除技术对基因表达进行组织特异性控制抑制，以进行涡虫中GABA能基因功能分析。该技术可以提供一个离散的工具，在涡虫GABA受体家族的功能特性，并告知我们的理解，这一重要途径的演变。无脊椎动物作为各种神经生物学和发育研究的模型越来越受到关注。研究人员结合了化学，物理化学，分子生物学和材料科学的专业知识。 该奖项支持美国PI和高年级本科生访问合作者的旅行？他们将在那里开发和学习如何合成聚合物纳米颗粒，这些纳米颗粒将被衍生化以促进关键mRNA靶点的特异性敲除。原理实验的证明将由研究生和本科生在各自的实验室进行，总体目标是向综合有机系统，神经系统集群提交有竞争力的预提案。如果项目目标得以实现，这项研究可能会对神经科学产生重大影响， 其他领域，如材料科学和纳米技术。它也可能对多学科研究产生深远的广泛影响，并将为该项目的下一代学生参与者提供独特的国际研究经验。

1322626Latha Ramakrishnan This Catalyzing New International Collaboration (CNIC) award supports U.S.-India Collaborative Research to Decipher Function and Evolution of GABAergic Neurotransmission in Planaria. Professor Latha Ramakrishnan, St. Cloud State University will initiate an international collaboration with Dr. Priyadarsi De, Indian Institute of Science Education and Research-Kolkata to develop novel reagents for investigating the evolution and function of GABAergic neurotransmission. The interdisciplinary research endeavor is to design and fabricate cell-type targeted nanomaterials for GABAergic gene function analysis in planaria using a powerful new gene knockdown technique for tissue specific controlled suppression of gene expression. The technique could provide a discrete tool for the functional characterization of the GABA receptor family in planarians and inform our understanding of the evolution of this important pathway. There is increasing interest in the invertebrate organism as a model for various neurobiological and developmental studies. The researchers combined expertise spans chemistry, physical chemistry, molecular biology, and materials science. The award supports travel for the US PI and senior undergraduate student to visit the collaborator?s lab in India where they will develop and learn how to synthesize the polymeric nanoparticles that will be derivatized to promote specific knockdown of key mRNA targets. Proof of principle experiments will be carried out by graduate and undergraduate students in the respective laboratories with the overall goal of submitting a competitive pre-proposal to the Integrative Organismal Systems, Neural Systems Cluster. If the project goals are achieved, this research could significantly impact the neurosciences and other fields such as materials science and nanotechnology. It may also have far-reaching broader impacts on multidisciplinary research and it will have provided a unique international research experience for the next generation of student participants in this project.