Morphology and function of commissural interneurons

描述(由申请人提供)：本提案的主要目标是研究感觉刺激如何在不同的运动行为中影响连合中间神经元。在我们回答这个问题之前，我们必须首先对连合间神经元多样性和功能的范围建立一个强有力的理解。透明的幼虫斑马鱼已经成为一种模型脊椎动物系统，利用优雅的成像和遗传技术研究体内的神经回路。以前，由于注射伪影，使用传统的逆行技术很难识别连合间神经元。我们将使用一种新的方法从基因上引入钙成像染料，以可视化并因此识别基于其三维形态和不同行为期间的钙流信号的连合中间神经元类别。然后，我们将使用成对的电生理斑片记录来测试特定类别的连合中间神经元与大的、容易识别的Rohon-Beard感觉细胞在已知大小的物理刺激刺激下的突触连接。这将使我们能够广泛地评估环境刺激在脊椎动物不同运动行为期间是如何在细胞水平上处理的。

DESCRIPTION (provided by applicant): The broad goals of this proposal are to examine how sensory stimuli affect commissural interneurons during different motor behaviors. Before we can attack this question, it is imperative that we first establish a strong understanding of the scope of commissural interneuron diversity and function. Transparent, larval zebrafish have burgeoned as a model vertebrate system to study neural circuits in vivo using elegant imaging and genetic techniques. Previously, commissural interneurons were difficult to identify using traditional retrograde techniques due to injection artifacts. We will use a novel method to genetically introduce calcium imaging dyes to visualize and therefore identify classes of commissural interneurons based on their three dimensional morphology and calcium flux signals during different behaviors. We will then use pair-wise electrophysiological patch recordings to test the synaptic connectivity of specific classes of commissural interneurons with large, easily-identified Rohon-Beard sensory cells excited with a physical stimulus of known magnitude. This will allow us to broadly evaluate how environmental stimuli are processed at the cellular level during different motor behaviors in vertebrates.