Chromatin accessibility landscape and transcription changes in recognition memory after visual imprinting in chicks

Descrizione del progetto

Il contesto molecolare della formazione della memoria

La memoria è alla base di molti aspetti del comportamento e la comprensione dei meccanismi sottostanti ha compiuto significativi progressi nel corso degli anni. Il pulcino rappresenta un valido modello sperimentale per studiare l’imprinting, un processo delle prime fasi di vita associato alla notevole efficienza di apprendimento e a una solida conservazione della memoria. Il progetto CHARM-Vis, finanziato dall’UE, studierà i meccanismi molecolari coinvolti nell’imprinting visivo del pulcino. Sarà posta particolare attenzione al contesto della cromatina nel prosencefalo dei pulcini, l’area in cui vengono memorizzate le informazioni su uno stimolo di imprinting visivo. A tal fine, gli scienziati del progetto impiegheranno sequenziamento e bioinformatica di prossima generazione.

Obiettivo

The molecular mechanisms underlying memory formation in vertebrates are not well understood, despite their paramount importance to neuroscience. CHARM-Vis aims at investigating changes in the chromatin landscape and transcriptional activity in a prototypical model system for memory formation: visual imprinting in domestic chicks.
The expected outcome of the project is remarkable. The use of single-cell, next-generation sequencing technologies will allow to study the system of interest at an unprecedented level of resolution, potentially leading to relevant new discoveries. Novel bioinformatics software pipelines will be developed for analyzing the data, and made available as free, open source software. All the data generated in the project will be made public as well, in order to benefit future research.
A highly interdisciplinary consortium of world leading institutions will be involved in the project, including experts in chick visual imprinting from Ilia State University, Georgia, bioinformatics specialists from Navarrabiomed, Spain, and biotechnology experts from Karolinska Institute, Sweden. The combined expertise and synergy of the international consortium, along with the long-lasting scientific experience of the applicant, will ensure the successful fulfillment of the proposal.
All the involved parties will greatly benefit from participating into the project. The applicant will deepen his expertise in bioinformatics and neuroscience, reinforcing his position as independent researcher. A mutual exchange of knowledge will take place among the involved institutions, whose know-hows are highly complementary. The project will also have beneficial, long-lasting effects after its end. We expect novel scientific questions to spring from the results of the project, stimulating the applicant as well as other researchers in performing further research, expanding the current knowledge and consolidating their careers.