Establishing the functional circuitry in the vertebrate visual system

通过这个项目，我们旨在揭示自然界如何在发育过程中建立功能性神经细胞连接的策略。这也将有助于理解损伤或神经退行性疾病后神经再生所需的机制。我们大脑中神经细胞连接的一般组织原则是地图的形成。例如，我们用眼睛看到的东西必须在我们的大脑中适当地表现出来。这是通过正确形成眼睛和大脑之间的连接来实现的。因此，我们正在研究的视觉系统是理解这些过程的一个很好的模型。在我们寻找控制神经连接形成的因素时，我们最近发现了一种新的候选分子。它存在于视网膜和所有连接的大脑中心。此外，该分子具有一些与神经退行性疾病（如阿尔茨海默氏症）中的蛋白质相似的特征。因此，我们的分析在许多方面都很有趣。我们将在不同的细胞培养实验中测试该分子的功能。然而，由于没有细胞系统可以模拟整个大脑，我们需要使用动物模型（老鼠）来检查蛋白质在大脑发育过程中的确切作用，特别是在眼睛和大脑之间的连接中。综合结果将使我们能够得出神经细胞如何相互连接的重要结论。这对于理解损伤或疾病后神经细胞再生的机制至关重要。

With this project we aim to reveal strategies of nature how to establish functional nerve cell connections during development. This will also help to understand the mechanisms needed for nerve regeneration after injury or neurodegenerative diseases. A general organizing principle of nerve cell connections in our brain is the formation of maps. For example, what we see with our eyes has to be represented in our brain appropriately. This is achieved through the correct formation of connections between the eye and the brain. Therefore, the visual system that we are studying is a good model to understand these processes.In our search for factors controlling the formation of nerve connections, we have recently identified a novel candidate molecule. It is found in the retina and in all connecting brain centres. Additionally, this molecule has some characteristics similar to proteins in neurodegenerative diseases, such as Alzheimer’s. Our analysis is therefore interesting in many respects. We will test the function of this molecule in different cell culture experiments. However, since no cell system can simulate the entire brain, we need to use an animal model (mouse) to examine the exact role of the protein during brain development, specifically in the connectivity between the eye and the brain. The combined results will enable us to draw important conclusions of how nerve cells connect to each other. This is evenly crucial in order to understand the mechanisms of nerve cell regeneration after injury or disease.