NG2-cells · The role of NG2 cells in the neural network in health and disease
„Хоризонт 2020“ — Действия „Мария Склодовска-Кюри“
- Период
- 2019-06-01 → 2022-05-31
- Финансиране от ЕС
- 264 669 €
- Участници
- 2
- Схема
- MSCA-IF-GF
Линиите свързват координатора с партньорите.
Накратко на български
NG2 клетките в мозъка се изследват чрез модели на епилепсия, за да се разбере как те реагират на промени в невронната активност. Разбирането на техния капацитет за делене може да помогне при разработването на терапии за защита на нервните клетки.
Кратко обяснение, генерирано от езиков модел по текста на CORDIS. Оригиналът е по-долу.
Резултати накратко
The role of NG2 cells in the neural network in health and disease
In the brain, not only neurons contribute to forming the neuronal network, instead glial cells are as well important to support brain functions. Oligodendroglial cells generate myelin sheaths in order to support and protect neuronal fibers (or axons). We know that neurons die during the course of neurodegenerative diseases, such as Alzheimer’s and Parkinson’s Disease or Epilepsy. Neurodegeneration also affects the glial cells that are in contact with these neurons, as has recently been brought to the attention of researchers around the globe by genetic screens for risk factors. On the contrary, oligodendrocytes are lost during the course of the autoimmune disease Multiple Sclerosis, leaving the neurons at a high risk to degenerate. Based on demographic changes in Europe, it is expected that the number of patients suffering from neurodegenerative disorders will greatly increase in the decades to come. Thus, we urgently need more therapies that protect neurons and glial cells from degenerating. In this project, we focus on oligodendrocyte precursor cells (OPCs or NG2 cells), that give rise to mature oligodendrocytes, the myelin generating cells of the central nervous system. In contrast to neurons, which cannot be regenerated once they are lost (with very few exceptions), NG2 cells keep the ability to divide and generate new oligodendrocytes throughout life. Thus, NG2 cells could provide a great regenerative potential, if we understand how they are regulated, and if we find ways to positively influence their generation and maturation into oligodendrocytes. We study how NG2 cells react to alterations in neuronal activity in in vivo-models for epilepsy. In these models, mutations in ion channels that have been identified in human epilepsy patients are expressed in experimental systems, resulting in an increase in neuronal activity. Understanding the physiological and morphological interactions between neurons and NG2 cells in the healthy as well as in the diseased brain will help us to understand how they influence each other, and find possible points of intervention in order to enhance the capability of NG2 cells to regenerate oligodendrocytes that have been lost and protect neurons from degeneration.
Текст от CORDIS, на английски · Данни: CORDIS, © Европейски съюз
Цел на проекта
Loss of myelin and oligodendrocyte dysfunction is being recognized in many neurodegenerative diseases, such as Multiple Sclerosis, Alzheimer's or Parkinson's disease or Epilepsy, although the mechanisms are not yet understood. Oligodendrocytes are generated from NG2 cells, a glial cell population that covers the entire parenchyma of the central nervous system. The multitude of disorders involving oligodendrocyte pathologies in grey and white matter underscores the importance to understand how oligodendrocyte differentiation and myelination are regulated, and the role of NG2 cells therein. The highest density of NG2 cells can be found during the first postnatal weeks, when they differentiate into mature oligodendrocytes ensheathing axons with myelin. NG2 cells retain the capacity for self-renewal throughout life, rendering them a huge regenerative potential in the adult brain. It is still unknown whether all NG2 cells have the same potential to generate oligodendrocytes or whether a subpopulation of them becomes permanent NG2 cells. Neurons form synaptic contacts onto NG2 cells and depolarize them, in order to regulate myelination. Considering the finding, that processes of NG2 glia contact neurons at the node of Ranvier, it could be possible that NG2 cells in turn are able to modulate neuronal activity. To address these questions, this project is designed to investigate how altered neuronal excitability affects the structural and functional relationship between neurons and NG2 cells and how these changes impact the neural network. Using a combination of several cutting-edge techniques, the details of the morphological contact formation as well as the physiological function of these contacts in vivo in models of enhanced neuronal activity will be assessed. The results will be a major contribution to understanding the role of NG2 cells in the neural network in healthy organisms as well as in the numerous diseases where oligodendrocytes are affected.
Оригинален текст от CORDIS (на английски).
Участници
- EBERHARD KARLS UNIVERSITAET TUEBINGEN · TuebingenКоординаторГермания
- UNIVERSITY OF CONNECTICUT · StorrsСъединени щати
Връзки
Данни: CORDIS, © Европейски съюз