Jane Lee

3rd Year Graduate Student

Department: Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory

Graduate Program: Neuroscience

Advisor: Holly Cline

Abstract:

Title:  Neuronal Transplantation Model Developed in Xenopus to Investigate the Biomolecular Properties of Cells Successfully Transplanted into the CNS

Neuronal transplantation therapies have the potential to replace lost neurons and provide significant clinical recovery in patients suffering from traumatic or degenerative injuries to the CNS. Conditions marked by focal losses of specific neuronal types like Parkinson’s disease (PD) have drawn particular interest. Animal models of neuronal transplantation for PD have focused on behavioral paradigms such as improvement of ambulation after substantia nigra injury with subsequent neuronal cell replacement; the transplanted cells are analyzed only post-mortem. In order to identify the underlying biomolecular mechanisms involved in the survival, growth, and integration of the transplanted donor cells as well as the host environment, we have developed a transplantation model in Xenopus laevis. The transparent skin of the albino Xenopus allows for in-vivo time-lapse imaging of the transplanted neurons. The donor neurons as well as the host environment can be manipulated genetically by gene electroporation. Such genes as transcription and growth factors can be over or under-expressed to study their effects on the donor neurons. Knowledge of such mechanism can improve the outcome of the transplantation therapies by optimizing conditions for survival and integration of these cells thus bringing transplantation therapies closer to everyday medical practice.