Project description
Comb jellies and the evolutionary origins of neurons
Neurons and synapses in the nervous systems of animals play essential roles in survival, enabling them to detect and respond to threats. Their evolutionary origins are of great interest to researchers, yet a fierce debate exists surrounding when and how the first neuron emerged. Ctenophores (comb jellies), free-living marine organisms, are strong candidates for one of the first animal lineages. Building on its recent discovery that ctenophores have a very unique nervous system, the EU-funded ORIGINEURO project will investigate ctenophore neurons with a focus on anatomy, development and function. Insights could challenge the standard view that neural network activity emerges through cellular diversification and synaptic connections.
Objective
The evolutionary origin of first neurons was key for animals as it allowed them to rapidly detect environmental cues and to coordinate responses to threats or opportunities. The evolutionary origin of neurons however remains a highly debated and largely enigmatic subject since there is no broad agreement on the relationships at the base of the animal tree and not all non-bilaterian animals have neurons. Strikingly, early branching animals, as well as their closest unicellular relatives already contain many components of the molecular toolkits for neuronal functions. ORIGINEURO addresses fundamental questions regarding the evolutionary origin of synapses and neurons from molecular to cellular scales. My recent studies on choanoflagellates, the closest living relatives of all animals, and ctenophores (comb jellies), strong candidates for one of the first animal lineages, are providing exciting, new and surprising clues into the ancestry of synaptic proteins including the discovery of a neurosecretory apparatus in choanoflagellates and a unique nervous system in ctenophores. The proposed 5-year programme brings together correlative volume electron microscopy, super-resolution imaging, quantitative live cell imaging, state-of-the-art molecular biology and single cell RNA sequencing focusing on a ctenophore as model organism. Objective 1 will provide a detailed understanding of the ultrastructure and connectivity of ctenophore neurons forming the subepithelial nerve net. Objective 2 will shed light on the so far elusive ctenophore neuron development. By functionally characterizing ctenophore neurons (Objective 3) I will understand how they work and what they do. ORIGINEURO fills a research gap and will provide insights into how many ways to build a neural network. Thus, ORIGINEURO aims at challenging the paradigm of network activity emerging through cellular diversification and synaptic connections.
Fields of science
Keywords
Programme(s)
- HORIZON.1.1 - European Research Council (ERC) Main Programme
Funding Scheme
HORIZON-ERC - HORIZON ERC GrantsHost institution
5020 Bergen
Norway