Neuronal regeneration in the mammalian central nervous system (CNS) is severely compromised due to the presence of extrinsic inhibitory signals and a reduced intrinsic regenerative capacity. Understanding the cellular and molecular processes underlying injury and regeneration in the CNS is necessary for the development of effective therapeutic strategies. Lymnaea stagnalis, a freshwater pond snail, has proven to be a powerful model for studying the fundamental mechanisms underlying neurite outgrowth and regeneration. In this study I designed the first custom L. stagnalis microarray gene chip and carried out microarray analysis to profile gene expression changes following CNS injury. From a pool of significantly regulated genes, I provided the first evidence that C/EBP, a transcription factor, plays an integral role in regeneration by maintaining the viability of the distal neurite. We also proposed a novel signaling network and demonstrated that BCL 7 regulates neurite regeneration, an effect that may be mediated through Ca2+-dependent growth cone formation.
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:TORONTO/oai:tspace.library.utoronto.ca:1807/30153 |
| Date | 01 December 2011 |
| Creators | Aleksic, Mila |
| Contributors | Zhong-Ping, Feng |
| Source Sets | University of Toronto |
| Language | en_ca |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | Thesis |
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