Morton 9604536 The correct functioning of the brain of all animals, including humans, is dependent on chemical messengers. Neurotransmitters are examples of such chemical messengers which carry information from one nerve cell to another within the brain. Nerve cells often respond to the presence of the neurotransmitter by altering the levels of additional chemical messengers, known as second messengers, within the nerve cell. Many hundreds of different neurotransmitters have been identified in a wide variety of species. Some of these are conserved between species and others are found in only a few species. In contrast, there are only a handful of second messengers and these are conserved across almost every species which has been studied. Dr. Morton and Dr. Nighorn have identified a simple animal model system that is ideal to examine the function of two specific second messengers, guanylyl cyclase and nitric oxide synthase, in regulating neural processing and behavior. They will concentrate on the olfactory system since its structure and function are very well characterized and they can manipulate the chemical signals that the animals smell. Using sophisticated molecular and cellular techniques, Dr. Morton and Dr. Nighorn will first clone the genes for both of these enzymes. They will then identify which cells in the olfactory system contain these enzymes and hence utilize these second messengers. This enables them to examined how chemical pheromonal cues will alter the system in the cells which first perceive odors and the cells in the brain where this information is first processed. The results from these studies are important to understanding the fundamental properties of neural processing. It will provide new knowledge towards understanding the neural mechanisms underlying the processing of vital information obtained from the environment.
