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Compiled by: Julian Thorpe

Research Project Examples 

Localisation of Neuropeptides within the Auricle of the Snail

Dobbins, A., *Elekes, K., **Thorpe, J.R. and Prof. Benjamin, P. (Sussex Centre for Neuroscience and *Balaton Limnological Res.Int., Hungarian Academy of Science and **EM Lab, Biological Sciences)

Our research centres around the question of whether co-expressed neuropeptides are actually released together as a cocktail to exert their post-synaptic effects or individually. Pivotal then to understanding this is to find out whether such multiple peptides are co-localised pre-synaptically. We have used the cardiorespiratory network and its target organ, the myogenic heart from the mollusc Lymnaea stagnalis as our model. Using this system we can study the localisation and release of the FMRFamide peptide family from a pair of heart motoneurones known to express the FMRFamide gene.In conjunction with physiological and biochemical experiements, we use the technique of immunoelectron microscopy to probe the contents of neuronal vesicles present in the neuronal processes and synapses which innervate the heart. By using a range of antisera raised against key members of the FMRFamide peptide family with a double immunogold labelling technique, we obtain the most direct evidence for pre-synaptic co-localisation of multiple peptide neurotransmitters.