Spatial and Temporal Control of 3D Hydrogel Viscoelasticity through Phototuning.

The mechanical properties of the extracellular environment can regulate a variety of cellular functions, such as spreading, migration, proliferation, and even differentiation and phenotypic determination. Much effort has been directed at understanding the effects of the extracellular matrix (ECM) elastic modulus and, more recently, stress relaxation on cellular processes. In physiological contexts such as development, wound healing, and fibrotic disease progression, ECM mechanical properties change substantially over time or space.

The matricellular protein Drosophila Cellular Communication Network Factor is required for synaptic transmission and female fertility.

Within the extracellular matrix, matricellular proteins are dynamically expressed nonstructural proteins that interact with cell surface receptors, growth factors, and proteases, as well as with structural matrix proteins. The cellular communication network factors family of matricellular proteins serve regulatory roles to regulate cell function and are defined by their conserved multimodular organization. Here, we characterize the expression and neuronal requirement for the Drosophila cellular communication network factor family member.

Intact central nervous system cellular quantitation reveals sexual dimorphism.

Establishing with precision the quantity and identity of the cell types of the brain is a prerequisite for a detailed compendium of gene and protein expression in the central nervous system (CNS). Currently, however, strict quantitation of cell numbers has been achieved only for the nervous system of . Here, we describe the development of a synergistic pipeline of molecular genetic, imaging, and computational technologies designed to allow high-throughput, precise quantitation with cellular resolution of reporters of gene expression in intact whole tissues with complex cellular constitutions such as the brain.

A conditional GABAergic synaptic vesicle marker for Drosophila.

Background: Throughout the animal kingdom, GABA is the principal inhibitory neurotransmitter of the nervous system. It is essential for maintaining the homeostatic balance between excitation and inhibition required for the brain to operate normally. Identification of GABAergic neurons and their GABA release sites are thus essential for understanding how the brain regulates the excitability of neurons and the activity of neural circuits responsible for numerous aspects of brain function including information processing, locomotion, learning, memory, and synaptic plasticity, among others.

A conditional glutamatergic synaptic vesicle marker for Drosophila.

Glutamate is a principal neurotransmitter used extensively by the nervous systems of all vertebrate and invertebrate animals. It is primarily an excitatory neurotransmitter that has been implicated in nervous system development, as well as a myriad of brain functions from the simple transmission of information between neurons to more complex aspects of nervous system function including synaptic plasticity, learning, and memory. Identification of glutamatergic neurons and their sites of glutamate release are thus essential for understanding the mechanisms of neural circuit function and how information is processed to generate behavior.