Astroglial cells in telencephalic development and plasticity

端脑发育和可塑性中的星形胶质细胞

• 批准号: RGPIN-2015-05950
• 负责人: Salmaso, Natalina
• 金额: $ 2.4万
• 依托单位: Carleton University
• 依托单位国家: 加拿大
• 项目类别: Discovery Grants Program - Individual
• 财政年份: 2017
• 资助国家: 加拿大
• 起止时间: 2017-01-01 至 2018-12-31
• 项目状态: 已结题
• 来源: https://www.nserc-crsng.gc.ca/ase-oro/Details-Detailles_eng.asp?id=630481
• 关键词: Astroglial; cells; telencephalic; development; plasticity

Over the long-term, my research program is focused on understanding the basic processes that mediate the brain’s ability to respond to its environment (also known as brain plasticity) across the lifespan. On the whole, juveniles respond more readily to “positive” environmental interventions such as enrichment then adults. For example, music, second language acquisition, and physical enrichment are typically more successful in juveniles then adults- the current proposal focuses on what mediates these differences in the ability to respond to environmental stimuli between juveniles and adults. In particular, we have shown that environmental enrichment of juvenile mice leads to cognitive improvements and neurobiological changes that are not observed in enriched adults. Our research focuses on the response of a particular cell: astrocytes, which are the most abundant cell type in the mammalian brain, even as compared to neurons, the most well-studied cell type in the brain. The neuron to astrocyte ratio increases with brain complexity: culminating at 1.4 astrocytes to every neuron within the human brain. Astroglial cells encompass several subtypes, but together, they play pivotal roles in cell metabolism, modifying cell-to-cell connectivity and providing trophic support to neurons, in addition, they function as neural stem cells.

从长远来看，我的研究项目集中在理解大脑在整个生命周期中对环境做出反应的能力（也称为大脑可塑性）的基本过程。总的来说，青少年比成年人更容易对“积极的”环境干预做出反应，比如富集。例如，音乐、第二语言习得和身体丰富在青少年中通常比在成年人中更成功——目前的建议集中在是什么介导了青少年和成年人对环境刺激的反应能力的差异。特别是，我们已经表明，环境富集的幼年小鼠导致认知改善和神经生物学变化，而这在富集的成年小鼠中没有观察到。我们的研究重点是一种特殊细胞的反应：星形胶质细胞，这是哺乳动物大脑中最丰富的细胞类型，甚至与神经元相比，大脑中研究得最充分的细胞类型。神经元与星形胶质细胞的比例随着大脑复杂性的增加而增加：在人脑中达到1.4个星形胶质细胞比一个神经元。星形胶质细胞包括几种亚型，但它们共同在细胞代谢，改变细胞间连接和为神经元提供营养支持中发挥关键作用，此外，它们还具有神经干细胞的功能。