Glial modulation of motor activity by ephaptic coupling and gliotransmission in the Drosophila nervous system

大多数动物可以移动来寻找它们的交配伙伴，寻找食物来源或躲避它们的捕食者。为了对外部和内部刺激做出反应，身体配备了广泛的感觉器官，这些感觉器官将信息发送到中枢神经系统。在这里进行计算，并基于对不同感觉信息的差异计算来触发适当的动作选择范例。然后，通过运动神经元的活动，计算出的决定被传递给肌肉。人们已经很好地了解了果蝇大脑中的神经回路，并识别了不同幼虫运动模式所需的网络。在这里，我们将在明确定义的神经元回路水平上讨论神经胶质细胞在调节运动行为中的作用。在第一个项目部分，我们将分解外围反馈环路的组织，该环路包括胶质细胞在阻止触觉耦合中的作用。在第二部分中，我们将测试神经胶质细胞在确定中枢神经系统离散信号通路中的作用。该提案将结合Akinao Nose和Christian KläMBT实验室的优势，专注于神经元或神经胶质细胞对果蝇幼虫运动行为的影响。我们的目标是了解神经胶质细胞在特定神经通路的动作选择中的作用。

Most animals can move to find their mating partners, to search food sources or to escape their predators. In order to react to external as well as internal stimuli the body is equipped with a broad range of sensory organs which send their information to the central nervous system. Here the computing takes place, and based on differential calculation of different sensory information appropriate action selection paradigms are triggered. The computed decision is then transmitted to the muscle by the activity of motor neurons. The neural circuits in the Drosophila brain are well understood and the networks required for different larval movement patterns have been identified. Here, we will address the role of glial cells in modulating locomotor behavior at the level of well-defined neuronal circuits. In a first project part, we will dismantle the organization of a peripheral feedback loop which includes the contribution of glia in blocking ephaptic coupling. In a second part, we will test the contribution of glial cells in defining discrete signaling pathways in the CNS. The proposal will combine the strengths of the laboratories of Akinao Nose and Christian Klämbt focusing on the impact of either neurons or glial cells on locomotor behavior in the Drosophila larva. We aim to understand the contribution of glial cells during action selection in a defined neural pathway.