Project number:
103
Project title:
Neuroregeneration after mechanical damage in the CNS – the role of inflammation.
Project supervisor:
Prof. Dr. Robert Nitsch, Dr. Sven Hendrix
Brief project description:
The project has the aim to modulate inflammatory responses after mechanical damage of the CNS to promote neuroregeneration in vivo.
In particular, the modulation of neurotrophin signalling by inflammatory processes (such as T cell and monocyte recruitment, mast cell degranulation) will be modulated by inhibitory antibodies, specific peptide inhibitors, recombinant cytokines/chemokines and RNA silencing.
Models and Techniques:
Entorhinal cortex lesion and spinal cord injury; organotypic brain slice outgrowth assays in a three-dimensional collagen gel matrix and organotypic brain slice cocultures of EGFP+ entorhinal cortices and wildtype hippocampi; 2-photon confocal microscopy and in vivo tracking of EGFP+ T cells and mast cells. CBA, Quantum Dot western blotting and immunohistochemistry.
The project team consists of basic neuroscientists and imaging experts (physicists).
Which of The cortex Partners would you see complimentary to the project and what do you envision them to contribute to the project:
Helsinki: biology of neurotrophins under inflammatory conditions
Bochum: intrinsic adaptive responses to induced inflammation after cortical injury
Zurich: the role of T cells and mast cells in the regeneration of spinal cord injury
The cortex Partners: Berlin, Bochum,
Helsinki, London, Oslo,
Prague, Stockholm, Zurich
