INGEBI   02650
INSTITUTO DE INVESTIGACIONES EN INGENIERIA GENETICA Y BIOLOGIA MOLECULAR "DR. HECTOR N TORRES"
Unidad Ejecutora - UE
congresos y reuniones científicas
Título:
CHARACTERIZATION OF SPONTANEOUS ELECTRICAL ACTIVITY IN DEVELOPING SPINAL MOTOR NEURONS OF ZEBRAFISH EMBRYOS
Autor/es:
PAOLA V. PLAZAS; NICHOLAAS C. SPITZER
Lugar:
Kerala
Reunión:
Congreso; Human Frontiers in Science Program 2010 Annual Meeting; 2010
Institución organizadora:
Human Frontiers in Science Program
Resumen:
Calcium signals are key for many processes during
embryonic development. In the nervous system, fluctuations in intracellular
calcium levels play important roles in proliferation, migration and neuronal
differentiation. Moreover, spontaneous calcium transients in embryonic X. laevis spinal neurons have been shown
to regulate processes including growth cone motility and neurotransmitter
specification. However, our understanding of the way in which electrical
activity affects the structure and function of developing circuits is quite
limited.
In this work, we have taken advantage of the optical
transparency and rapid development of zebrafish (Danio rerio) to study the patterns of intracellular calcium signals
in spinal primary motor neurons (PMN) of intact embryos during the entire
process of axonogenesis, pathfinding and establishment of early connections.
We simultaneously tracked axon outgrowth and formation of
connections in vivo in transgenic
zebrafish embryos that express selectively eGFP in motor neurons (Tg (Hb9:eGFP)
) between 16 (beginning of axon extension) and 24 hours post fertilization
(when early connections are established with muscle) and performed calcium
imaging during pathfinding behavior to determine the location and timing of
electrical activity. Our results provide insight into when and where
spontaneous electrical activity is expressed and its relation to the
establishment of PMN precise stereotypical axonal branching patterns.