| Abstract No.: | 215 |
| Country: | Canada |
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| Title: | Neurotrophins and Nerve Repair |
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| Authors/Affiliations: | Valerie Verge
University of Saskatchewan, Director, Cameco MS Neuroscience Research Center, Saskatoon, SK, Canada |
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| Content: | Peripheral nerve injury evokes a series of molecular, biochemical, and cytoarchitectural changes in primary sensory neurons that together with changes in the injured nerve, contribute to the repair process of peripheral nerves. However, injury can also have maladaptive consequences, such as neuropathic pain. The goal of basic research into peripheral nerve repair is to elucidate the diverse events and mechanisms responsible for maximal repair with minimal maladaptive consequences. Our research has characterized the properties and phenotype of sensory neuron subpopulations and changes that occur in response to nerve injury and how the neurotrophin family of growth factors maintain and modulate the phenotype and functional responses of mature sensory neurons. In this talk, the role of the principally target-derived neurotrophins nerve growth factor and neurotrophin-3 in regulation of the cell body response following peripheral nerve injury will be briefly outlined. In addition, evidence will be presented describing how one neurotrophin, brain derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF), synthesized by a majority of injured sensory neurons plays a critical role in the switch in gene programs, i.e.“cell body response” linked to their regenerative abilities and correlates with the dramatic beneficial impact of brief electrical stimulation of the nerve at the time of nerve repair on sensory neuron regeneration. |
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