Mapping of Italian research excellence in Neurodegenerative - Apre

Nome Antonio Malgaroli, Gian Giacomo Consalez
Contatti
02 2643 4886
antonio.malgaroli@hsr.it, giacomo.consalez@hsr.it
Istituto/Dipartimento Università Vita-Salute San Raffaele
Proposta di ricerca Optical And Biomolecular Methods For The Functional Investigation Of Neural Circuits In Vivo.
Area di interesse identificata Analisi della funzione sinaptica nei tessuti nervosi normali e in modelli di
neurodegenerazione
Finanziamenti ricevuti
Titolo progetto
Ente finanziatore
Durata progetto
Optical And Biomolecular Methods For The Functional Investigation Of Neural
Circuits In Vivo.
Fondazione CARIPLO (pending)
2 anni
Every human behavior depends on an activity change in one or more brain areas,
often with the contribution of very small subgroups of cells and synapses.
Conversely, when a brain disease whatsoever, a tumor, a vascular disorder, a
grey or white matter pathology, etc., modifies some behavioral aspect, inevitably
this effect arises from a change in neural activity. Hence, viewing the fine
structure of the brain by the most advanced imaging techniques is certainly
important but it would be more important to find some effective way to detect
changes in neuronal and synaptic activity during both physiological and
pathological processes. Indeed, for many different body organs, the kidney, the
heart, the liver, the pancreas, etc, the early detection of signs and symptomsand
the choice of an optimized therapeutic approach often depend more on the
availability of a large set of chemical and molecular markers of cell function
rather than on our ability to visualize fine details of the tissue anatomy.
Unfortunately techniques available today to monitor brain function, such as
E.E.G., fMRI, fNIRS, etc., either sample brain activity very indirectly, through
changes in metabolism and blood flow, or do not have the resolution required to
pinpoint changes in small networks of neuronal cells and synapses. At present,
anomalous states of brain activity can be detected only when they arise from
the concerted activity of large numbers of neurons and synapses, such as in
epilepsy, or when cell and/or synaptic and/or axonal damage becomes very
profound. For all the above reasons, the demand for a methodology that could
yield a more direct readout of in vivo neuronal and synaptic activity is extremely
high.
In this research project we are planning to further develop a methodology that
was recently designed in one of our labs to provide a very direct and sensitive
readout of brain activity. This is based on a family of recombinant molecules
which were designed in our labs to detect synaptic activaton via the application
of exogenous markers. This methodology is capable of revealing the physiological
activation of brain synaptic networks with very high sensitivity and resolution.
These striking results have prompted the generation of a series of transgenic