No description available.

Preterm birth (<37 weeks) is the world’s principal cause of death of children <5 years of age. Bronchopulmonary dysplasia (BPD) is the most common complication of preterm birth. BPD is characterized by an arrest in alveolar and vascular development within the lung. It is a multifactorial disease, caused by a combination of supplemental oxygen, mechanical ventilation, and inflammation. BPD is also an independent risk factor for abnormal neurodevelopment. The link between BPD and abnormal neurodevelopment is poorly understood and there are currently no effective cures for these complications. We hypothesized that a crucial cell population for brain development, i.e., the neural progenitor cell (NPC) is functionally impaired in BPD and that this impairment is associated with abnormal neurodevelopment. Based on our previous findings, we also predicted that human umbilical cord-mesenchymal stromal cell (UC-MSC) extracellular vesicles (EVs), could mitigate both the lung and brain injuries in experimental BPD. We utilized several animal models of BPD, across multiple species, to determine the effects of hyperoxia, mechanical ventilation, and inflammation on the developing lungs and brain. We also utilized UC- MSC therapy to mitigate these injuries. We discovered that hyperoxia exposure damages the developing lungs as well as the brain, leading to cerebrovascular and NPC impairments, as well as reduced neurogenesis. These impairments were associated with neurobehavioural deficits in adulthood. Furthermore, we found that inflammation in combination with mechanical ventilation and hyperoxia also impairs NPC function. Importantly, we demonstrated that UC-MSC EVs can reduce inflammation, improve vascular growth, restore lung growth, and mitigate impairments in NPC self-renewal. This work highlights novel mechanisms of BPD-associated abnormal neurodevelopment and offers potential regenerative medicine therapies to alleviate these outcomes for this vulnerable population.

The ability to control stem cell functions, particularly neuronal progenitors, has long since been believed to be the key to successful treatment of neurodegenerative disorders such as Alzheimer's, Parkinson's and accidents involving head trauma. The neurology field calls for many new solutions to address the controlled neural stem cell seeding and placement of cells for neural tissue regeneration. Self-assembled monolayers (SAM) from the alkanethiol group provide a straightforward applicable, reliable treatment for cell adhesion. An ODT/gold treatment was used to adhere the cells to patterned areas, due mainly to a high confluence of cells attracted to it, as well as the viable environment it produced for the cells. Arrays of micropillars, made of SU-8 photoresist, then covered with a thin film of gold and treated with the ODT, created scaffolding allowing manipulation of neural stem cells. Based on multiple trials of observing varying cross-sectional geometric parameters, metal layer thicknesses and the ODT/Gold treatment, this study explores seeding density control, base and circumferential cell population dependence on those parameters.

Organotypic hippocampal slice cultures were used to model the effects of neuroinflammatory conditions following an epileptic state on functional P2X7 receptors (Rs) of subgranular zone (SGZ) neural progenitor cells (NPCs). The compound, 4-aminopyridine (4-AP), is known to cause pathological firing of neurons, consequently facilitating the release of various transmitter substances including ATP. Lipopolysaccharide (LPS) and interleukin-1(IL-1) both potentiated the dibenzoyl-ATP (Bz-ATP)-induced current amplitudes in NPCs, although via different mechanisms. Whereas LPS acted via promoting ATP release, IL-1 acted via its own receptor to directly influence P2X7Rs. Thus, the effect of LPS was inhibited by the ecto-ATPase inhibitor, apyrase, but not by the IL-1 antagonist, interleukin-1RA (IL-1RA); by contrast, the effect of IL-1 was inhibited by IL-1RA, but not by apyrase. Eventually, incubation with 4-AP upregulated the number of nestin/glial fibrillary acidic protein/P2X7R immunoreactive cells and their appropriate staining intensity, suggesting increased synthesis of P2X7Rs at NPCs. In conclusion, inflammatory cytokines accumulating after epilepsy-like neuronal firing may facilitate the effect of endogenous ATP at P2X7Rs of NPCs, thereby probably promoting necrosis/apoptosis and subsequent cell death.

No description available.

No description available.

Pour maintenir l'architecture du tissue, les cellules épithéliales se divisent de manière planaire, perpendiculaire à leur axe principal de polarité. Du fait que le centrosome retrouve sa localisation apicale à l'interphase l'orientation du fuseau mitotique est réinitialisée à chaque cycle cellulaire. Nous utilisons de l'imagerie live en trois dimensions de centrosome marqués en GFP pour investiguer la dynamique de l'orientation du fuseau mitotique des cellules neuroépithéliales de l'embryon de poulet. Le fuseau mitotique présente des mouvements stéréotypiques pendant la métaphase, avec dans un premier temps une phase active de d'orientation planaire suivie par une phase de maintenance planaire jusqu'à l'anaphase. Nous décrivons la localisation des protéines NuMA et LGN formant un anneau au niveau du cortex latéral cellulaire au moment de l'orientation du fuseau. Enfin, nous montrons que le complexe protéique formé par LGN, NuMA et par la sous unité Gai localisé au cortex est nécessaire pour les mouvements du fuseau et pour réguler la dynamique de l'orientation du fuseau. La localisation restreinte de LGN et NuMA en anneau cortical est instructive pour l'alignement planaire du fuseau mitotique et est également requise pour sa maintenance planaire. / To maintain tissue architecture, epithelial cells divide in a planar fashion, perpendicular to their main polarity axis. As the centrosome resumes an apical localization in interphase, planar spindle orientation is reset at each cell cycle. We used three-dimensional live imaging of GFP-labeled centrosomes to investigate the dynamics of spindle orientation in chick neuroepithelial cells. The mitotic spindle displays stereotypic movements during metaphase, with an active phase of planar orientation and a subsequent phase of planar maintenance before anaphase. We describe the localization of the NuMA and LGN proteins in a belt at the lateral cell cortex during spindle orientation. Finally, we show that the complex formed of LGN, NuMA, and of cortically located Gái subunits is necessary for spindle movements and regulates the dynamics of spindle orientation. The restricted localization of LGN and NuMA in the lateral belt is instructive for the planar alignment of the mitotic spindle, and required for its planar maintenance.

Interactions between the Eph family of receptor tyrosine kinases, and their ligands, the ephrins, are required for the normal development and maintenance of many patterns of connectivity within the nervous system. Eph receptors and ephrins are expressed widely throughout both the developing and mature nervous system where they function as important regulators of cell migration and axon guidance. The studies presented in this thesis examine the role of one particular member of the Eph receptor family, EphA4, in regulating mechanisms that underlie the development and maintenance of certain neural connections within the nervous system. This thesis demonstrates that the EphA4 receptor is expressed within specific regions of the developing and mature nervous system, some of which are associated with the control of locomotor activity. Consistent with these observations are the locomotor defects exhibited by animals with a targeted disruption of the EphA4 gene. These animals exhibit abnormal bilateral limb movements and have severe disruptions of a number of major axonal pathways. One of these disrupted axonal pathways, the corticospinal tract (CST), is a particularly important mediator of locomotor activity. This thesis reveals that EphA4 is expressed on the axons that comprise the CST. It demonstrates that although EphA4 is not required for the initial development of the CST, repulsive interactions between EphA4-bearing CST axons and ephrinB3, a ligand for EphA4 that is expressed at the midline of the spinal cord, appear to prevent CST axons from aberrantly recrossing the spinal midline during development.

Interactions between the Eph family of receptor tyrosine kinases, and their ligands, the ephrins, are required for the normal development and maintenance of many patterns of connectivity within the nervous system. Eph receptors and ephrins are expressed widely throughout both the developing and mature nervous system where they function as important regulators of cell migration and axon guidance. The studies presented in this thesis examine the role of one particular member of the Eph receptor family, EphA4, in regulating mechanisms that underlie the development and maintenance of certain neural connections within the nervous system. This thesis demonstrates that the EphA4 receptor is expressed within specific regions of the developing and mature nervous system, some of which are associated with the control of locomotor activity. Consistent with these observations are the locomotor defects exhibited by animals with a targeted disruption of the EphA4 gene. These animals exhibit abnormal bilateral limb movements and have severe disruptions of a number of major axonal pathways. One of these disrupted axonal pathways, the corticospinal tract (CST), is a particularly important mediator of locomotor activity. This thesis reveals that EphA4 is expressed on the axons that comprise the CST. It demonstrates that although EphA4 is not required for the initial development of the CST, repulsive interactions between EphA4-bearing CST axons and ephrinB3, a ligand for EphA4 that is expressed at the midline of the spinal cord, appear to prevent CST axons from aberrantly recrossing the spinal midline during development.

The discovery of neural stem cells (NSC) within the adult mammalian brain continues to fuel optimism regarding the ability of potential regenerative medicine applications to provide enhanced functional recovery from brain injuries. The adult NSC population is maintained within a complex microenvironment, referred to as the niche, where a unique cellular and extracellular environment maintains and regulates the NSC population and their progeny, enabling ongoing neurogenesis throughout adulthood. Characterization of how NSC interact with the extracellular environment and other cell subpopulations is an active area of research that will generate fundamental design parameters for biomaterial and tissue engineering strategies for neural tissue repair. A major obstacle to further progress is the lack of access to purified populations of primary NSC, a challenge which became the focus of this thesis. To address this obstacle, experimental methods were developed and optimized for isolating neural stem and progenitor cells (NSPC) from the adult NSC niche with fluorescence activated cell sorting (FACS). These methods were enhanced by the incorporation of a fluorescent reporter mouse driven by the gene Sox2, a neural stem cell associated transcription factor, which allowed NSPC enrichment within the Sox2+ population. The FACS based research approach was further developed to include additional surface antigens allowing isolation of NSPC at over 34% purity. The highly enriched population of NSPC was subjected to vital dye cell cycle analysis leading to the observation that an active and quiescent fraction exists within the NSPC pool that is delineated by β1-integrin expression. Access to enriched primary adult NSPC will lead to more a more accurate understanding of NSC dynamics with implications in fundamental biological research as well as biomaterials and tissue engineering.