Generation of transgenic mice lines for wide-view mapping of functional connectomics

2018 Fiscal Year Final Research Report

• Project/Area Number: 17K19438
• Research Category: Grant-in-Aid for Challenging Research (Exploratory)
• Allocation Type: Multi-year Fund
• Research Field: Neuroscience and related fields
• Research Institution: Gunma University
• Principal Investigator: Hayashi-Takagi Akiko (高木朗子) 群馬大学, 生体調節研究所, 教授 (60415271)
• Research Collaborator: OBI Kisho 群馬大学, 生体調節研究所・脳病態制御分野
• Project Period (FY): 2017-06-30 – 2019-03-31
• Keywords: AS-PaRac1 / 大規模機能的コネクトミクス / セル・アンサンブル / シナプス・アンサンブル

Outline of Final Research Achievements

Visualization and manipulation of possible synaptic pathology could provide mechanistic insight of psychiatric disorders. For this purpose, we aimed at establishment of a novel imaging technique named “functional connectomics”, in which we could visualize simultaneous presynaptic and postsynaptic activations. The probes for presynapse, postsynapse (AS-PaRac1), and postsynaptic neurons are expressed in an activity-dependent manner. We established the transgenic mice strains bearing the above-mentioned constructs. The uniqueness of this method with use of these transgenic mice is that it allows us to detect not only synaptic plasticity (micro imaging) but also the plastic reorganization of neuronal circuits in different brain areas (macro imaging). This multi-scale imaging could help elucidate the dynamic nature of synaptic potentiation in a specific neuronal circuit in the vast network of neuronal circuits in the brain.

Free Research Field

神経科学

Academic Significance and Societal Importance of the Research Achievements

従来型の「形態的」コネクトミクスを用いて、神経回路地図の構築が目指されていますが、如何に詳細な地図を作ろうと、どの神経回路が実際に使用され、強化もしくは減弱されたかを示すことは出来ません。そこでシナプスの可塑性の情報を含めた「機能的」コネクトミクスを描出する技術が必要です。本研究課題で私たちが確立した「機能的」コネクトミクス」は、シナプス増強プローブ（赤色）と共に、そのシナプス前部（青色）とシナプス後部神経細胞（緑色）を神経活動依存性に3色に標識するものであり、高次機能を担う神経回路の全容を、新たな角度より解明できると考えます。