POWRE: Molecular Characterization of Genes that are Candidates for Determinants of Neuronal Identity and Synaptic Plasticity in Drosophila

POWRE：果蝇神经元身份和突触可塑性决定因素候选基因的分子表征

• 批准号: 9973750
• 负责人: Joyce Fernandes
• 金额: $ 7.5万
• 依托单位: Yale University
• 依托单位国家: 美国
• 项目类别: Standard Grant
• 财政年份: 1999
• 资助国家: 美国
• 起止时间: 1999-09-01 至 2000-08-31
• 项目状态: 已结题
• 来源: https://www.nsf.gov/awardsearch/showAward?AWD_ID=9973750&HistoricalAwards=false
• 关键词: POWRE; Molecular; Characterization; Genes; Candidates

Motoneurons are the nerve cells that send signals to muscle fibers, to make them contract and produce movements. When an embryonic insect larva develops through metamorphosis into an adult with legs and wings, there are major changes in the branching and target patterns of the motoneurons. It remains unclear how this plastic change is regulated to produce the correct adult functional connections, the synapses, between nerve cells and the appropriate other nerve cells and muscles. This project uses molecular biological techniques to obtain genomic fragments from subsets of motor neurons from the fruitfly, Drosophila. These will be used to identify sequence comparisons with known genes and proteins from Drosophila and from vertebrates. Results will for the first time allow direct comparisons of the continuity between embryonic and adult motor neurons at the molecular level, and will have impact also on understanding synaptic plasticity in general. This POWRE award will enhance the research capabilities of a young woman scientist by providing training in the latest molecular biological techniques.

运动神经元是向肌肉纤维发送信号以使它们收缩并产生运动的神经细胞。 当昆虫胚胎幼虫通过变态发育成具有腿和翅膀的成虫时，运动神经元的分支和目标模式发生重大变化。 目前尚不清楚如何调节这种可塑性变化以在神经细胞与适当的其他神经细胞和肌肉之间产生正确的成人功能连接（突触）。 该项目利用分子生物学技术从果蝇的运动神经元亚群中获取基因组片段。 这些将用于识别与来自果蝇和脊椎动物的已知基因和蛋白质的序列比较。 结果将首次允许在分子水平上直接比较胚胎和成年运动神经元之间的连续性，并且还将对理解突触可塑性产生总体影响。 该 POWRE 奖将通过提供最新分子生物学技术的培训来提高年轻女科学家的研究能力。