Research Starter Grant- Analysis of Glycinergic Neurotransmission in the Early Zebrafish Spinal Cord

University Of Massachusetts Amherst, Amherst MA

Investigators

Abstract

Gerald B. Downes, Proposal Number 0527922 Analysis of Glycinergic Neurotransmission in the Early Zebrafish Spinal Cord Vertebrate locomotive behavior, such as walking or swimming, consists of repetitive and alternating muscle contractions that are controlled by groups of neurons within the spinal cord. These neurons, collectively known as the spinal cord central pattern generator (CPG), are essential for locomotive behavior. Early in animal development the emergent spinal cord CPG is also thought to orchestrate the repetitive spontaneous movements of the limbs or tail, that are the first behavior observed in all vertebrate embryos. In both the early and more mature forms of the spinal cord CPG, the neurotransmitter glycine plays crucial roles in regulating and coordinating neuronal activity and these roles likely change during the course of development. Although glycine neurotransmission is present in the early spinal cord CPG, key features about the role of glycine remain unknown. The function of glycine within the early spinal cord CPG is not known, not all of the genes and cells required for glycine function within the early spinal cord CPG have been identified, and it is not understood how the role of glycine changes during development. The zebrafish embryo provides several advantageous features to analyze spinal cord CPG development and address these issues. In this proposal, a combination of molecular, genetic, and physiological approaches unique to zebrafish will be employed to elucidate the genes and cells required for glycine function during spontaneous movement of the tail of the embryo, the first behavior observed in zebrafish development. The results from this study will identify essential components of the early spinal cord CPG, and will provide a foundation for future work to examine how this network is modified during development to yield the mature spinal cord CPG. Since spinal cord organization is thought to be broadly conserved among vertebrates, this work holds promise to provide insight into spinal cord development and function in higher vertebrates. In addition to satisfying research goals, these studies will also greatly aid in satisfying teaching goals. Both graduate and undergraduate students will receive hands-on, laboratory training by contributing to this project.