Functional analysis of commissural neurons in coordinated movements in zebrafish

2017 Fiscal Year Final Research Report

• Project/Area Number: 26290013
• Research Category: Grant-in-Aid for Scientific Research (B)
• Allocation Type: Partial Multi-year Fund
• Section: 一般
• Research Field: Neurophysiology / General neuroscience
• Research Institution: Okazaki Research Facilities, National Institutes of Natural Sciences
• Principal Investigator: Higashijima Shin-ichi 大学共同利用機関法人自然科学研究機構(岡崎共通研究施設), 岡崎統合バイオサイエンスセンター, 教授 (80270479)
• Project Period (FY): 2014-04-01 – 2018-03-31
• Keywords: 運動 / 左右協調 / 脊髄 / ゼブラフィッシュ / 交差型介在ニューロン

Outline of Final Research Achievements

We performed functional analysis of dI6 commissural inhibitory neurons during swimming in zebrafish. Electrophysiological analyses have revealed that (1) these neurons fired in phase with motoneurons located nearby during swimming, and that (2) these neurons made monosynaptic inhibitory connections onto motoneurons on the contralateral side. We further investigated functional roles of these neurons by genetically ablating the neurons. Larval fish in which dI6 commissural inhibitory neurons were absent frequently exhibited bilateral (not alternating) activities during swimming. These results indicate that dI6 commissural inhibitory neurons play a critical role during swimming by providing crossed inhibition to neurons on the contralateral side.

Free Research Field

神経科学