Presenter(s): Nelly Nouboussi − Biology, Human Physiology
Faculty Mentor(s): Matt Smear, Teresa Findley
Poster 63
Research Area: Natural science
One of the most important tasks a sensory system performs is locating the source of a stimulus. However, very little is known about how the olfactory systems localizes odors. The goal of this project is to develop a technique that will allow us to image the glomeruli, the area in the brain where neurons from the brain and the nose connect. We will image using superfolder intensity-based glutamate-sensing fluorescent reporter (referred to as GluSnFR), which localizes to the extracellular surface of neurons and can thus report concentrations of the neurotransmitter glutamate at synapses. A virus carrying the GluSnFr gene will be injected in the brain during survival surgeries. The first step in this project is to confirm that GluSnFr is expressed by the cells of interest, which will be accomplished by sectioning samples of mice brains 2 weeks after injection, and looking for expression using a microscope. Once it is established that GluSnFr is expressed, we will perform glutamate imaging to obtain images of olfactory bulb activity. We predict that GluSnFr will indicate when neurons are firing, and this will be illustrated in the images taken. This is significant because this technique will ultimately be used to image the glomeruli of mice performing olfactory search tasks, in order to establish a correlation between the activity of neurons and the behavior of the animals.