Polarity-selective afferent innervation of the zebrafish lateral line

Lozano Ortega, Marta (2022): Polarity-selective afferent innervation of the zebrafish lateral line. Dissertation, LMU München: Fakultät für Biologie

Abstract

The lateral line is a mechanosensory system present in fish and amphibians that allows them to detect changes in water flow in the surrounding environment. The lateral line is formed by individual organs called neuromasts where the hair cells in charge of the mechanoreceptive function are located. In every neuromast of the lateral line, we can find two subpopulations of hair cells oriented in opposite directions that are selectively innervated by two different types of afferent neurons. In this work, I have elucidated how the expression of the transcription factor Emx2 is responsible for the mechanism that governs selective innervation not only during development, but also during regeneration after damage of any of the components of the system. I describe a mechanistic algorithm that explains previous phenomenological observations. My work sheds light into the neuronal tuning mechanism that allows the correct transmission of different directional information in separate pathways to the central nervous system and its maintenance throughout the fish life even despite the exposure to frequent receptor cell turnover and neuronal peripheral damages.

• Dokumententyp: Dissertationen (Dissertation, LMU München)
• Themengebiete: 500 Naturwissenschaften und Mathematik ; 500 Naturwissenschaften und Mathematik > 570 Biowissenschaften, Biologie
• Fakultäten: Fakultät für Biologie
• Sprache der Hochschulschrift: Englisch
• Datum der mündlichen Prüfung: 28. September 2022
• 1. Bericht­erstatter:in: Griesbeck, Oliver