Live-imaging of synapses in the model system of neurodevelopmental disorders

2017 Fiscal Year Final Research Report

• Project/Area Number: 15K15399
• Research Category: Grant-in-Aid for Challenging Exploratory Research
• Allocation Type: Multi-year Fund
• Research Field: Pediatrics
• Research Institution: Institute for Developmental Research, Aichi Human Service Center
• Principal Investigator: Nagata Koh-ichi 愛知県心身障害者コロニー発達障害研究所, 神経制御学部, 部長 (50252143)
• Project Period (FY): 2015-04-01 – 2018-03-31
• Keywords: シナプス / ライブイメージング / 自閉性障害 / 知的障害 / 神経細胞

Outline of Final Research Achievements

Functional and structural defects in Synapses are essential for the pathophysiology of autism-spectrum disorder (ASD) and intellectual disability (ID). In the present study, we performed in vitro live-imaging analyses of synapses in cultures mouse hippocampal neurons.Especially, we observed synaptic structure from the points of 1) spine formation, 2) temporal change of spine morphology and 3) spine density. By knockdown of ASD- or ID-related genes such as small GTPases, we clarified the possible involvement of gene abnormalities in the pathophysiology of ASD and ID. We also tried to set up the experimental system for in vivo analyses of spine dynamics.

Free Research Field

神経発達障害の分子生物学解析