PROPERTIES OF OLFACTORY RECEPTORS - NEURAL REGENERATION

目前，嗅觉功能受损的人几乎没有希望。这一长期目标 项目是研究调节神经再生的机制，并制定策略， 促进恢复和恢复功能后受伤或疾病。建立嗅神经模型 损伤将被用来研究MMPs在神经损伤和恢复过程中的作用。 嗅球中嗅轴突的再生和重新布线。基质金属蛋白酶（MMP）是 在修复、稳态和转移过程中发生的细胞外重塑的调节剂。 这项研究将确定MMPs是否有助于调节损伤反应的机制， 嗅觉系统的再生和修复过程。MMP水平的变化及其定位 将在从神经损伤开始的不同时间点测量嗅球内的 退化、再生和恢复。据推测，MMP 9在肿瘤发生过程中起着重要作用。 通过调节炎症、神经胶质增生和瘢痕形成的数量， 通过促进嗅球中轴突的神经再支配和重新布线来增强恢复。MMP 敲除小鼠将用于确定正常恢复过程是否需要MMP。实验 代表了一个新的方向和新的方法，将开始解决嗅觉的机制， 在分子水平上的系统再生和修复。嗅觉系统可以提供关键， 了解中枢神经系统的恢复过程。这些发现可能会导致 新的治疗策略，以帮助改善或恢复受伤或疾病后的嗅觉功能， 为将来开发针对调节MMPs活性的治疗策略奠定了基础。

At present, little hope is offered to those with impaired olfactory function. The long-term objectives of this project are to investigate the mechanisms regulating neural regeneration and to develop strategies to enhance recovery and restore function following injury or disease. An established model of olfactory nerve injury will be used to investigate the role of MMPs following nerve injury and recovery processes during the regeneration and rewiring of olfactory axons in the olfactory bulb. Matrix metalloproteinases (MMPs) are regulators of the extracellular remodeling that occurs in reparative, homeostatic and metastatic processes. This study will determine if MMPs contribute to mechanisms that regulate the response to injury and regenerative and reparative processes in the olfactory system. Changes in MMP levels and their localization within the olfactory bulb will be measured at different time points from the onset of nerve injury, through degeneration, regeneration and recovery. It is hypothesized that MMP9 plays an important role during the early response to injury by regulating the amount of inflammation, gliosis, and scar formation and that MMP2 enhances recovery by facilitating the reinnervation and rewiring of axons in the olfactory bulb. MMP knockout mice will be used to determine if MMPs are required for normal recovery processes. Experiments represent a new direction and a novel approach that will begin to address the mechanisms of olfactory system regeneration and repair at the molecular level. The olfactory system may provide the key to understanding recovery processes in the central nervous system. Findings could lead to the development of new treatment strategies to help improve or restore olfactory function following injury or disease, and lay the groundwork for the future development of treatment strategies directed at modulating the activity of MMPs.