Initial Stages of Olfactory Information Processing

嗅觉信息处理的初始阶段

• 批准号: 9288136
• 负责人: Chih-Ying Su
• 金额: $ 31.95万
• 依托单位: UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA, SAN DIEGO
• 依托单位国家: 美国
• 财政年份: 2016
• 资助国家: 美国
• 起止时间: 2016-06-06 至 2021-05-31
• 项目状态: 已结题
• 来源: https://reporter.nih.gov/project-details/9288136
• 关键词: Address; Anatomy; Animals; Behavior; Behavioral; Behavioral Assay; Biophysics; Brain region; Caliber; Cells; Cerebellum; Communication; Complex; Courtship; Cues; Data; Disease; Disease Vectors; Drosophila genus; Drosophila melanogaster; Electron Microscopy; Electrophysiology (science); Engineering; Face; Food; Genetic; Goals; Health; Hippocampus (Brain); Human; Imaging technology; Individual; Insect Control; Insect Vectors; Insecta; Investigation; Lead; Logic; Malaria; Mammals; Mediating; Modeling; Molecular Genetics; Morphology; Neurons; Odors; Olfactory Nerve; Olfactory Pathways; Olfactory Receptor Neurons; Pheromone; Physiological; Population; Prevalence; Process; Property; Research; Research Design; Resistance; Retina; Role; Sensory Hair; Shapes; Smell Perception; Stimulus; Surveys; Synapses; System; Testing; Tissues; Transgenic Organisms; Work; behavior influence; behavioral response; design; disorder control; extracellular; fly; genetic analysis; image reconstruction; information processing; insight; neural circuit; neuronal cell body; novel; optogenetics; relating to nervous system; sensory system; vector control

PROJECT SUMMARY/ABSTRACT The long-term goal of this project is to reveal the mechanisms by which complex odors are encoded, with a special focus on the initial stages of olfactory information processing. The research design takes advantage of the anatomical simplicity and powerful genetic toolkit of Drosophila melanogaster, which allows systematic molecular genetic analysis of olfactory circuits as well as in-depth physiological and behavioral analysis of olfactory function. The results may have major implications for the control of insect vectors of disease. The project focuses on ephaptic interactions, a novel, non-synaptic form of olfactory circuit communication, which take place between any two grouped olfactory receptor neurons (ORNs) housed in the same insect sensory hair (sensillum). Despite its ubiquity, how ephaptic communication regulates olfactory function and behavior is poorly understood. We recently provided the first description of the importance of ephaptic inhibition in insect olfaction. In the current study, we will first focus on defining the importance of ephaptic excitation. A systematic, functional survey will be performed to define the strength of ephaptic excitation between grouped ORNs (Aim 1). The respective electrotonic properties of grouped ORNs will also be determined (Aim 2). The strength of ephaptic interactions will be quantified between a pair of ORNs from both directions with a view to testing the hypothesis that ephaptic interactions are asymmetric across sensillum types. Furthermore, the ultrastructure of grouped ORNs will be described using serial block-face electron microscopy (SBEM) and 3D reconstruction imaging technologies (Aim 3). This Aim is designed to identify the biophysical factors that underlie asymmetric ephaptic interactions in a sensillum. Morphological features of an identified ORN, such as dendritic caliber, number of dendritic branches, as well as soma size, will be analyzed and compared between neighboring ORNs. The hypothesis that the physically larger ORN in a pair exerts stronger ephaptic interactions upon its neighbor will be tested. This Aim could also lead to critical technical breakthroughs to broaden the application of SBEM in illuminating the 3D ultrastructure of any identified cell in diverse tissues. Lastly, the functional importance of ephaptic interactions in odor-guided behavior will be determined (Aim 4). Specifically, we will extend our behavioral assay and define the role of ephaptic inhibition on courtship behavior in sensillum which houses ORNs responsive to pheromone cues. We will also perform the first test of the functional importance of ephaptic excitation between another ORN pair that mediates behavioral responses to food odors. The proposed research will determine the functional importance and biophysical principles of a novel form of olfactory circuit interaction mechanism. These findings have the potential to revolutionize our understanding of olfactory information processing in insects, and may reveal general principles that govern chemosensory behavior throughout the animal kingdom.

项目摘要/摘要 该项目的长期目标是揭示复杂气味的编码机制， 特别关注嗅觉信息处理的初始阶段。研究设计利用了 果蝇的解剖学简单和强大的遗传工具包，允许系统性 嗅觉回路的分子遗传分析以及深入的生理和行为分析 嗅觉功能。结果可能对控制昆虫媒介的控制有重大影响。 该项目着重于嗅觉电路通信的一种新颖的非突触形式， 发生在同一昆虫中的任何两个分组的嗅觉受体神经元（ORN）之间 感觉头发（感觉）。尽管无处不在，但ephaptic沟通如何调节嗅觉功能和 行为知之甚少。我们最近提供了首次描述以phaptic的重要性 昆虫嗅觉的抑制作用。在当前的研究中，我们将首先专注于定义以线的重要性 励磁。将进行系统的功能调查，以定义字段激发的强度 在分组的ORN之间（AIM 1）。分组ORN的各自的电量特性也将是 确定（目标2）。两者的一对ORN之间将量化边缘相互作用的强度 方向以检验以下假设：在感官之间是不对称的。 类型。此外，将使用串行块面电子来描述分组ORN的超微结构 显微镜（SBEM）和3D重建成像技术（AIM 3）。此目标旨在确定 在感官中不对称字母相互作用的基础的生物物理因子。形态学特征 确定的ORN，例如树突状口径，树突分支的数量以及SOMA大小，将被分析 并比较相邻的ORN。一对施加物理上较大的ORN的假设 将测试在其邻居上更强的边缘相互作用。这个目标也可能导致关键的技术 突破以扩大SBEM在照亮任何已识别细胞的3D超微结构中的应用 多种组织。最后，在气味引导的行为中，iphaptic相互作用的功能重要性将是 确定（目标4）。具体而言，我们将扩展行为分析并定义边缘抑制的作用 关于Sensillum的求爱行为，该行为容纳了对信息素提示的响应。我们也会表演 另一个介导的ORN对之间的功能重要性的第一个测试 行为对食物气味的反应。 拟议的研究将确定一种新型形式的功能重要性和生物物理原理 嗅觉电路相互作用机制。这些发现有可能彻底改变我们对 昆虫中的嗅觉信息处理，并可能揭示控制化学感应的一般原则 整个动物王国的行为。