Biology & Sustainability
Event Title
Investigating the Meningeal Reaction During Spinal Cord Regeneration
Document Type
Oral Presentation
Location
Indianapolis, IN
Subject Area
Biology & Sustainability
Start Date
11-4-2014 10:45 AM
End Date
11-4-2014 11:45 AM
Sponsor
Ellen Chernoff (Indiana University/Purdue University at Indianapolis)
Description
The meninges is a set of three connective tissue layers that protect and surround the brain and spinal cord. The pia mater is the innermost layer directly covering the spinal cord. The pia allows for passive transport of water and solute. It also produces and secretes retinoids (vitamin A metabolites), that are gene expression regulators. Separated from the pia by the cerebral spinal fluid (CSF), the arachnoid mater is the next layer. The dura mater is the outermost layer of the meninges. The meninges invade a penetrating wound and thicken around the cord. In mammals, this forms a permanent scar. In the axolotl, meninges are removed from the lesion site by reactive ependymal cells and the layers gradually return to normal during regeneration. My goal is to determine how far from the transection site the meningeal reaction stops. We have identified aniline blue stain for collagen and alcian blue stain for proteoglycans as probes that allow us to view changes in structure of the meninges and to measure the distance of meningeal reaction from the transection site. This information will be coupled with studies of retinoid and growth factor production to assess the potential meningeal contributions to the spontaneous regeneration that occurs in axolotl spinal cord.
Funding provided by the National Science Foundation (NSF) and the Undergraduate Research Mentoring (URM) Program.
Investigating the Meningeal Reaction During Spinal Cord Regeneration
Indianapolis, IN
The meninges is a set of three connective tissue layers that protect and surround the brain and spinal cord. The pia mater is the innermost layer directly covering the spinal cord. The pia allows for passive transport of water and solute. It also produces and secretes retinoids (vitamin A metabolites), that are gene expression regulators. Separated from the pia by the cerebral spinal fluid (CSF), the arachnoid mater is the next layer. The dura mater is the outermost layer of the meninges. The meninges invade a penetrating wound and thicken around the cord. In mammals, this forms a permanent scar. In the axolotl, meninges are removed from the lesion site by reactive ependymal cells and the layers gradually return to normal during regeneration. My goal is to determine how far from the transection site the meningeal reaction stops. We have identified aniline blue stain for collagen and alcian blue stain for proteoglycans as probes that allow us to view changes in structure of the meninges and to measure the distance of meningeal reaction from the transection site. This information will be coupled with studies of retinoid and growth factor production to assess the potential meningeal contributions to the spontaneous regeneration that occurs in axolotl spinal cord.
Funding provided by the National Science Foundation (NSF) and the Undergraduate Research Mentoring (URM) Program.