PROJECT 4: MOLECULAR AND CELLULAR MECHANISMS FOR THERMAL ROBUSTNESS AND MULTISEN

在自然环境中强健的感觉反应需要动物整合电路 温度检测与其他感官模式的电路。所有感官模式的回路必须 在一定的温度范围内也能很好地工作。Celegans提供了一个绝佳的机会来保护 调节不同温度下电路功能的分子和细胞机制 集成热敏和非热敏输入的机制。新的量化方法的使用 行为分析、光学神经生理学和线虫丰富的神经遗传学使我们能够 确定和表征分子、神经元和电路的耐热性决定因素和 航海行为中的多感官整合。在这里，我们建议探讨 线虫的温度感觉和化学感觉导航行为。主要的热敏元件 神经元(AFD)、NaCI感觉神经元(ASE)和化学吸引物嗅觉神经元(AWC)是 突触前至相同的中间神经元(AIY)。因此，多感官整合的机制 热感觉和化学感觉输入可能位于第一突触，而且， 热感觉回路，可能在化学感觉的温度依赖调节中起直接作用 巡回赛。我们提议的多方面分析将揭示热稳健性和 多感官整合，其中的原则可能是高度保守的。

A robust themnosensory response in natural environments requires an animal to integrate circuits for temperature detection with circuits for other sensory modalities. The circuits for all sensory modalities must also work robustly over a range of temperatures. C elegans offers an excellent opportunity to prot)e the molecular and cellular mechanisms that regulate circuit function across different temperatures as well as mechanisms that integrate thermosensory and non-thermosensory inputs. The use of novel quantitative behavioral assays, optical neurophysiology and the rich neurogenetics available in C elegans allows us to identify and characterize the molecular, neuronal and circuit determinants of thermal robustness and multisensory integration during navigational behavior. Here, we propose to probe the interplay between thermosensory and chemosensory navigational behaviors in C elegans. The principal thermosensory neurons (AFD), NaCI-sensing neurons (ASE), and olfactory neurons for chemoattractants (AWC) are presynaptic to the same interneurons (AIY). Thus, mechanisms for multisensory integration between thermosensory and chemosensory inputs may be located in the first synapse, and moreover, the thermosensory circuit, may play a direct role in temperature-dependent regulation of the chemosensory circuit. Our proposed multifaceted analyses will uncover novel mechanisms of thermal robustness and multisensory integration, principles of which are likely to be highly conserved.