Analysis of Peptide Circuitry Drosophila

描述(申请人提供)：我的研究计划包括两个具体目标。第一个是对果蝇遗传易驯化的中枢神经系统中以前未被描述的神经网络的特征。为了实现这一目标，我将使用一种新的基因组/多肽学方法来阐明与行为相关的神经网络。第二个目标是探索新描述的神经网络的生理学是如何组织的，以及这种组织如何影响行为。我将通过活体成像实验来承担这项任务，这些实验使用了最近开发的用于钙离子、cAMP和肽释放的遗传编码生物传感器。通过这种方式，我将把最新的成像方法应用到神经科学中一些最古老的问题上。在这份提案中，我将描述使用这种方法发现的两种新电路，并概述在这些新描述的电路中进行现场成像实验必须采用和开发的方法。最后，我将讨论这些实验将如何阐明神经系统组织的原理。

DESCRIPTION (provided by applicant): My research proposal consists of two specific aims. The first is the characterization of previously uncharacterized neural networks in the genetically tractable central nervous system of Drosophila. To accomplish this goal I will employ a new genomic/peptidomic approach to the elucidation of behaviorally relevant neural networks. The second aim is to explore how the physiology of newly described neural networks is organized and how this organization impacts behavior. I will undertake this task through live-imaging experiments that employ recently developed genetically encoded biosensors for Ca2+, cAMP, and peptide release. In this way I will bring the newest imaging methods to bear on some of the oldest questions in Neuroscience. In this proposal I will describe two new circuits that have been uncovered using this approach and outline the methods that must be adapted and developed to conduct live-imaging experiments within these newly described circuits. Finally, I will discuss how such experiments will shed light on principles of nervous system organization.