Neuroexcitatory Environmental Stress: Comparative and Integrative Studies

许多环境应激源，如有毒金属、藻类生物毒素、物理创伤和低氧，都是神经兴奋性的，因此过度刺激神经系统。这些发现在很大程度上是在生物医学模型中建立的，然而，关于生态有机体如何响应和应对这种神经兴奋性应激知之甚少。尽管生物体在其自然环境中在整个生命周期内不断地暴露在这样的应激因素下，但这一点仍然存在。我研究的长期目标是更好地了解生态有机体对兴奋性应激源做出反应的发育、分子、细胞和行为机制。这里将特别关注鸟类，特别是禽蛋(鸡、鹌鹑、绿头鸭)。在鸡蛋的封闭环境中，暴露于应激源可以被小心地控制，生物反应可以被测量并在多个组织水平上进行整合，鸡蛋可以在实验室和自然世界中进行研究。我们将重点关注生理性(L-谷氨酸)和生态(甲基汞和铅)兴奋性应激源。这项工作对于理解环境应激源对自然种群健康的影响以及生物体如何应对具有重要意义。具体地说，这项研究的结果有望填补有关易损性的发育窗口、多个应激源影响以及神经兴奋反应的综合生理学(即从分子到整个动物)的主要知识空白。研究结果将通过会议和出版物广泛传播给政府和非营利机构的同事以及科学界。研究和教育目标将通过让学生进行实验来整合。

Many environmental stressors, such as toxic metals, algal biotoxins, physical trauma, and low oxygen are neuroexcitatory and thus over-stimulate the nervous system. These findings have largely been established in biomedical models, however little is known about how ecological organisms respond to and cope with such neuroexcitatory stress. This, despite the fact that organisms in their natural environment are continually exposed to such stressors across the lifespan. The long-term goal of my research is to better understand the developmental, molecular, cellular and behavioral mechanisms by which ecological organisms respond to exposure to excitatory stressors. The specific focus here will be on birds and in the particular the avian egg (chicken, quail, mallard). Exposure to stressors can be carefully controlled in the closed environment of an egg, biological responses can be measured and integrated across multiple levels of organization, and eggs can be studied in both the laboratory and the natural world. We will focus on physiological (l-glutamic acid) and ecological (methylmercury and lead) excitatory stressors. This work is important for understanding the impacts of environmental stressors on the health of natural populations, and how organisms cope. Specifically, the outcome of this research is expected to fill major knowledge gaps concerning developmental windows of vulnerability, multiple stressor impacts, and integrative physiology (i.e., molecular to whole animal) of neuroexcitatory responses. Findings will be broadly disseminated to colleagues in government and non-profit agencies, and the scientific community through conferences and publications. Research and education objectives will be integrated by having students conduct the experiments.