Collaborative Research: Olfactory learning and neuromodulation in the Aedes aegypti mosquito

合作研究：埃及伊蚊的嗅觉学习和神经调节

• 批准号: 2242603
• 负责人: Jeffrey Riffell
• 金额: $ 50万
• 依托单位: University of Washington
• 依托单位国家: 美国
• 项目类别: Standard Grant
• 财政年份: 2023
• 资助国家: 美国
• 起止时间: 2023-06-01 至 2026-05-31
• 项目状态: 未结题
• 来源: https://www.nsf.gov/awardsearch/showAward?AWD_ID=2242603&HistoricalAwards=false
• 关键词: Collaborative; Research; Olfactory; learning; neuromodulation

Mosquitoes are important vectors of pathogens of disease, accounting for more than a million annual deaths worldwide. We know that mosquitos locate and bite humans by their sensitive sense of smell. However, mosquitoes do not bite everyone equally – some people are bitten more than others. What causes this difference in the mosquito’s biting preference? Remarkably, mosquitoes can learn and remember based on past experiences, particularly the experience of having an animal or person swat at them. The experience of being the target of a swat can modify their odor and biting preferences, but we know remarkably little about how this information is processed in the mosquito brain. This project will use an interdisciplinary approach that combines novel behavioral and electrophysiological techniques from Aedes aegypti mosquitoes to understand how odor learning takes place to modify their biting behaviors. These projects will also incorporate training opportunities for undergraduates, graduate students, and postdoctoral associates with the aim of preparing them for independent scientific careers. High School students in the Upward Bound Program will also participate in the project through summer seminars and lab experiences. In this project, we build on our recent findings that dopamine-mediated learning and modulation in the mosquito’s primary olfactory system, the antennal lobe, is critical for Aedes aegypti mosquito host preferences. Using an interdisciplinary approach, our collaborative team will elucidate the role of dopamine-mediated plasticity in olfactory circuits. We accomplish this with three Objectives: (1) We will test the hypothesis that mosquitoes only learn certain odors, corresponding to the tuning of specific antennal lobe glomeruli. (2) To test that “learnable” odors are encoded by antennal lobe glomeruli that receive dense dopaminergic innervation. And (3) to test the hypothesis that coincident dopamine and odor input cause plasticity of antennal lobe project neurons and allows mosquitoes to learn important olfactory stimuli. We suggest that our proposed experiments may provide a basic framework for understanding the contribution of dopaminergic plasticity in early olfactory circuits. Moreover, olfactory behaviors, including learning, are critical for mosquito preferences and biting of human hosts, and thereby spread diseases that afflict nearly a billion people annually. Therefore, unraveling the neural bases of learning in mosquitoes has important potential for developing new strategies for their control. The project will also introduce students to interdisciplinary research and broadly communicate insect neurobiology's importance to high school students. High School students in the Upward Bound Program will participate in the project through summer seminars and lab experiences. Finally, the project includes training undergraduates, graduate students, and postdoctoral associates and helps prepare them for independent scientific careers.This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.

蚊子是疾病病原体的重要媒介，全世界年度死亡人数超过一百万。我们知道，蚊子通过敏感的嗅觉找到并咬人。但是，蚊子不会平等地咬人 - 有些人比其他人更咬人。是什么导致蚊子叮当般的偏好差异？值得注意的是，蚊子可以根据过去的经历学习和记住，尤其是让动物或人摇摆的经历。成为特警的目标的经验可以改变其气味和咬合的偏好，但我们对蚊子大脑中如何处理这些信息的了解很少。该项目将使用跨学科的方法，该方法结合了来自埃及埃及蚊子的新型行为和电生理技术，以了解如何进行气味学习以改变其咬人行为。这些项目还将为本科生，研究生和博士后同事纳入培训机会，目的是为他们准备独立的科学职业。高中学生的高中学生还将通过夏季下水道和实验室经验参加该项目。在这个项目中，我们基于最近的发现，即多巴胺介导的学习和调制在蚊子的主要嗅觉系统中，触角对伊德斯埃及埃及蚊子宿主的偏好至关重要。使用跨学科的方法，我们的协作团队将阐明多巴胺介导的可塑性在嗅觉电路中的作用。我们用三个目标来完成这项工作：（1）我们将检验以下假设：蚊子只学习某些气味，对应于特定触角叶glomerulli。 （2）测试“可学习的”气味是由触角叶肾小球编码的，后者接受致密的多巴胺能神经。 （3）检验以下假设：复合的多巴胺和气味输入会导致触角叶突项目神经元的可塑性，并使蚊子学习重要的嗅觉刺激。我们建议我们提出的实验可以提供一个基本框架，以了解早期嗅觉电路中多巴胺能可塑性的贡献。此外，包括学习在内的嗅觉行为对于蚊子的偏好和咬人至关重要，因此传播了每年遭受近十亿人群的疾病。因此，阐明蚊子中学习的神经元基础具有为其控制制定新策略的重要潜力。该项目还将向学生介绍跨学科研究，并广泛传达昆虫神经生物学对高中生的重要性。高中学生的高中学生将通过夏季下水道和实验室经验参加该项目。最后，该项目包括培训本科生，研究生和博士后同事，并帮助他们为独立的科学职业做好准备。该奖项反映了NSF的法定任务，并通过使用该基金会的知识分子优点和更广泛的影响来审查标准，被认为是通过评估来获得的支持。