Teleost retinal ganglion cells can regenerate severed axons following injury, something their mammalian counterparts cannot do. In the teleost, successful regeneration has been attributed in part to microglial cell activities including the phagocytosis of myelin. Although the regulation of microglial phagocytosis has been studied in mammals, in the teleost it is largely unexamined. The present study was designed to identify mediators of microglial phagocytosis released by injured goldfish optic nerve during the course of regeneration. We found that microglial phagocytosis was significantly enhanced in the presence of a 7 day regenerating nerve or medium conditioned by the nerve (CM). When either nerve or CM was incubated with microglia along with an antibody against tumour necrosis factor alpha (TNFalpha), this effect was neutralized. The L929 cell cytotoxicity assay further demonstrated TNFalpha activity in the CM. However, Western blot analysis did not confirm this result. Therefore, further work is necessary to clearly establish the presence of TNFalpha.
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:LACETR/oai:collectionscanada.gc.ca:QMM.80276 |
| Date | January 2003 |
| Creators | Girolami, Elizabeth |
| Contributors | Levine, Robert (advisor) |
| Publisher | McGill University |
| Source Sets | Library and Archives Canada ETDs Repository / Centre d'archives des thèses électroniques de Bibliothèque et Archives Canada |
| Language | English |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | Electronic Thesis or Dissertation |
| Format | application/pdf |
| Coverage | Master of Science (Department of Biology.) |
| Rights | All items in eScholarship@McGill are protected by copyright with all rights reserved unless otherwise indicated. |
| Relation | alephsysno: 002090620, proquestno: AAIMQ98645, Theses scanned by UMI/ProQuest. |
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