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Engineering new synaptic connections in the C. elegans connectome

Most of what we currently know about how neural circuits work we owe to methods based on the electrical or optical recording of neural activity. This is changing dramatically. First, the advent of optogenetic techinques has enabled precise manipulation of the activity of specific neurons. Second, th...

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Detalles Bibliográficos
Autores principales: Rabinowitch, Ithai, Schafer, William R
Formato: Online Artículo Texto
Lenguaje:English
Publicado: Taylor & Francis 2015
Materias:
Acceso en línea:https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4588382/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/26430564
http://dx.doi.org/10.4161/21624054.2014.992668
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author Rabinowitch, Ithai
Schafer, William R
author_facet Rabinowitch, Ithai
Schafer, William R
author_sort Rabinowitch, Ithai
collection PubMed
description Most of what we currently know about how neural circuits work we owe to methods based on the electrical or optical recording of neural activity. This is changing dramatically. First, the advent of optogenetic techinques has enabled precise manipulation of the activity of specific neurons. Second, the development of super-resolution methods for obtaining detailed maps of synaptic connectivity has paved the way for uncovering the connectomes of entire brains or brain regions. We describe a third and complementary new strategy for investigating and manipulating neural circuits: the artificial insertion of new synapses into existing neural circuits using genetic engineering tools. We have successfully accomplished this in C. elegans. Thus, In addition to being the first animal with an entirely mapped connectome, C. elegans is now also the first animal to have an editable connectome. Variations on this approach may be applicable in more complex nervous systems.
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spelling pubmed-45883822016-01-28 Engineering new synaptic connections in the C. elegans connectome Rabinowitch, Ithai Schafer, William R Worm Commentary Most of what we currently know about how neural circuits work we owe to methods based on the electrical or optical recording of neural activity. This is changing dramatically. First, the advent of optogenetic techinques has enabled precise manipulation of the activity of specific neurons. Second, the development of super-resolution methods for obtaining detailed maps of synaptic connectivity has paved the way for uncovering the connectomes of entire brains or brain regions. We describe a third and complementary new strategy for investigating and manipulating neural circuits: the artificial insertion of new synapses into existing neural circuits using genetic engineering tools. We have successfully accomplished this in C. elegans. Thus, In addition to being the first animal with an entirely mapped connectome, C. elegans is now also the first animal to have an editable connectome. Variations on this approach may be applicable in more complex nervous systems. Taylor & Francis 2015-01-28 /pmc/articles/PMC4588382/ /pubmed/26430564 http://dx.doi.org/10.4161/21624054.2014.992668 Text en © 2015 The Author(s). Published with license by Taylor & Francis Group, LLC http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/3.0/ This is an Open Access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution-Non-Commercial License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/3.0/), which permits unrestricted non-commercial use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited. The moral rights of the named author(s) have been asserted.
spellingShingle Commentary
Rabinowitch, Ithai
Schafer, William R
Engineering new synaptic connections in the C. elegans connectome
title Engineering new synaptic connections in the C. elegans connectome
title_full Engineering new synaptic connections in the C. elegans connectome
title_fullStr Engineering new synaptic connections in the C. elegans connectome
title_full_unstemmed Engineering new synaptic connections in the C. elegans connectome
title_short Engineering new synaptic connections in the C. elegans connectome
title_sort engineering new synaptic connections in the c. elegans connectome
topic Commentary
url https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4588382/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/26430564
http://dx.doi.org/10.4161/21624054.2014.992668
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