Center for Dynamic Imaging of Nervous System Function

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Last Update:11.06.2006

The Center for Dynamic Imaging of Nervous System Function was founded in 2003 with funds from the National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke (NINDS) at the National Institutes of Health (NIH) with matching support from The Children's Hospital of Philadelphia (CHOP) and The University of Pennsylvania (PENN) School of Medicine, the Departments of Neurology and Neuroscience.

The goals of this Center fall into three scientific clusters: I) Neuronal Development, in which our projects will investigate problems ranging from stem cell biology to neuronal migration and synapse formation; II) Regulation of Ion Channels and Synaptic Transmission, in which our studies include protein-protein interactions controlling calcium channel activity, the spatial distribution of receptors, and the localization of synapses controlling neuronal networks, and III) Glia-Neuron Interactions, in which we will investigate calcium signaling in astrocytes, the roles of ion channels in myelination, and the role of glial-released messengers in synapse formation.

This Dynamic Imaging Center will catalyze new studies and augment existing studies in the 21 qualifying NINDS-funded laboratories that comprise this Center. The resultant synergistic interactions between faculty members will revolutionize our ability to study basic functions of nervous system function and will ultimately enhance our understanding of these functions in human health and disease.

The directors of the Center acknowledge the support of Drs. Arthur Rubinstein and Glenn Gaulton (PENN School of Medicine), Dr. David Pleasure (CHOP), Dr. Francisco Gonzalez-Scarano (PENN Neurology) and Dr. Irwin Levitan (PENN Neuroscience) and the generous support of EXFO Burleigh and Olympus Microscopes.

About the banner photograph: Portion of an adult mouse neuromuscular synapse, labeled to reveal the components of this tripartite synapse. The presynaptic motor axon and terminals (blue) were labeled using antibodies against neurofilaments and SV2. The postsynaptic acetylcholine receptors (red) located in the muscle fiber membrane were labeled with a fluorescently conjugated toxin. The perisynaptic Schwann cells (green) that invest the synapse were labeled using an antibody against TrkC. Image is a single plane projection of a 30 micron confocal stack. From D. Hess in R. Balice-Grodon's lab.