Biology & Sustainability
Investigation of the Expression and Localization of the Receptor FSHR-1 in C. elegans Neurons
Document Type
Poster Presentation
Location
Indianapolis, IN
Subject Area
Biology & Sustainability
Start Date
11-4-2014 8:30 AM
End Date
11-4-2014 9:30 AM
Sponsor
Jennifer Kowalski (Butler University)
Description
The nervous system is composed of neurons that communicate at junctions called synapses. Synaptic transmission occurs when chemical neurotransmitters travel from presynaptic "sending" neurons across the synaptic cleft to bind and activate receptors on postsynaptic "receiving" neurons. Neuropeptide signaling fine-tunes synaptic transmission, but the pathways and proteins involved are not yet fully understood. My project focuses on one potential neuropeptide receptor, FSHR-1, and its role in synaptic transmission at the neuromuscular junction (NMJ) in C. elegans roundworms. Previous data has shown that worms lacking fshr-1 have reduced muscle contraction and that FSHR-1 expression in neurons is sufficient to restore normal NMJ signaling. My hypothesis is that fshr-1 acts pre-synaptically in one or more neuron subclasses to control NMJ signaling. The goal of my project is to determine the neuronal cell type(s) where fshr-1 is normally expressed by doing colocalization experiments with animals displaying green fluorescent protein in fshr-1-expressing cells and red fluorescent proteins in specific neuronal subclasses. Initial experiments assessing fshr-1 expression in sensory neurons in the C. elegans head and tail showed no overlap of red and green fluorescence, indicating fshr-1 is not expressed in these cells. I am currently preparing colocalization experiments to test whether fshr-1 is expressed in glutamate head neurons. I am also making a fluorescently tagged fshr-1 protein to be used in future experiments of fshr-1 subcellular localization and abundance in mutant C. elegans; the molecular strategy and current status of this tagging approach will be presented.
Investigation of the Expression and Localization of the Receptor FSHR-1 in C. elegans Neurons
Indianapolis, IN
The nervous system is composed of neurons that communicate at junctions called synapses. Synaptic transmission occurs when chemical neurotransmitters travel from presynaptic "sending" neurons across the synaptic cleft to bind and activate receptors on postsynaptic "receiving" neurons. Neuropeptide signaling fine-tunes synaptic transmission, but the pathways and proteins involved are not yet fully understood. My project focuses on one potential neuropeptide receptor, FSHR-1, and its role in synaptic transmission at the neuromuscular junction (NMJ) in C. elegans roundworms. Previous data has shown that worms lacking fshr-1 have reduced muscle contraction and that FSHR-1 expression in neurons is sufficient to restore normal NMJ signaling. My hypothesis is that fshr-1 acts pre-synaptically in one or more neuron subclasses to control NMJ signaling. The goal of my project is to determine the neuronal cell type(s) where fshr-1 is normally expressed by doing colocalization experiments with animals displaying green fluorescent protein in fshr-1-expressing cells and red fluorescent proteins in specific neuronal subclasses. Initial experiments assessing fshr-1 expression in sensory neurons in the C. elegans head and tail showed no overlap of red and green fluorescence, indicating fshr-1 is not expressed in these cells. I am currently preparing colocalization experiments to test whether fshr-1 is expressed in glutamate head neurons. I am also making a fluorescently tagged fshr-1 protein to be used in future experiments of fshr-1 subcellular localization and abundance in mutant C. elegans; the molecular strategy and current status of this tagging approach will be presented.