Overcoming mechanical barriers to neuronal regeneration

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After spinal cord injury, many people are wheelchair-bound for the rest of their life. The reason for this dilemma is that neurons, which are crucial cells in the spinal cord connecting the brain with the body, cannot self-repair, and repair can currently not be promoted. So far, research has - without any major breakthrough - mainly focused on chemical signals impeding neuronal re-growth. The proposed project will take an alternative approach: I want to unravel if mechanical barriers are in the way of neuronal repair and find a way how to negotiate these barriers. I will develop a microscopy technique that, for the first time, allows to measure and compare the stiffness of healthy spinal cord tissue with that of scar tissue developing at the injury site. Concurrently, I will investigate the response of nervous system cells to mechanical stimuli and illuminate how these stimuli are translated into a cellular response. Equipped with this knowledge, I will suppress the response of cells in the scar environment to mechanical stimuli. In this manner, I will overcome the negative effect of the scar stiffness and promote neuronal re-growth, which could ultimately lead to the repair of damaged spinal cord tissue.