Saint-Amant Louis
University of Michigan, 815 North University, Ann Arbor, Michigan 48109-1048, USA.
Zebrafish. 2006;3(2):173-90. doi: 10.1089/zeb.2006.3.173.
General mechanisms of motor network development have often been examined in the spinal cord because of its relative simplicity when compared to higher parts of the brain. Indeed, most of our current understanding of motor pattern generation comes from work in the lower vertebrate spinal cord. Nevertheless, very little is known about the initial stages of motor network formation and the interplay between genes and electrical activity. Recent research has led to the establishment of the zebrafish as a key model system to study the genetics of neural development. The spinal cord of zebrafish is amenable to optical and electrophysiological analysis of neuronal activity even at the earliest embryonic stages when the network is immature. The combination of physiology and genetics in the same animal model should lead to insights into the basic mechanisms of motor circuit formation. This paper reviews recent work on the development of zebrafish motor activity and discusses them in the context of the current knowledge of embryonic and larval zebrafish spinal cord morphology and physiology.
由于脊髓相较于大脑的高级部分相对简单，运动网络发育的一般机制常常在脊髓中进行研究。的确，我们目前对运动模式生成的大部分理解都来自于对低等脊椎动物脊髓的研究。然而，对于运动网络形成的初始阶段以及基因与电活动之间的相互作用，我们知之甚少。最近的研究使得斑马鱼成为研究神经发育遗传学的关键模型系统。即使在网络尚未成熟的最早胚胎阶段，斑马鱼的脊髓也适合对神经元活动进行光学和电生理分析。在同一动物模型中将生理学和遗传学相结合，应该能够深入了解运动回路形成的基本机制。本文回顾了关于斑马鱼运动活动发育的近期研究，并结合目前对斑马鱼胚胎和幼体脊髓形态学和生理学的认识进行讨论。
