PROPERTIES OF OLFACTORY RECEPTORS; NEURAL REGENERATION

每年有超过100万美国人遭受损害或 对中枢神经系统的损伤（即，头部受伤，中风， 脑肿瘤）。 此外，与衰老有关的疾病，如 早老性痴呆和阿尔茨海默病正在成为一种 严重的健康问题。 基本目标之一， 神经科学的临床研究是寻找新的方法， 改善恢复和生活质量。 拟议的项目提供了一种研究独特的 神经发生和神经细胞替换的过程， 在哺乳动物的嗅觉系统中。 程序将 用来诱导感觉神经元的退化 后续 神经发生和恢复将使用定量的 确定该过程的能力和极限的方法。 计划进行实验以确定替换的能力 神经元重建与中枢神经系统的连接 恢复功能。 此外，一群老动物将在 研究以确定神经发生的能力和 康复一直持续到老年。 一种技术， 将嗅觉神经元移植到中枢神经系统的不同区域 将被用来确定这些神经元的存活能力 在宿主脑组织中 体内神经发生的持续性 移植和轴突生长到宿主大脑中可以 对再生领域产生重大影响。 预计拟议研究的数据将产生新的 关于神经发生和恢复机制的信息 神经细胞损伤后。 这些研究可能会导致 修复人类中枢神经系统中受损通路的方法 神经系统

Over one million Americans each year suffer from damage or injury to the central nervous system (ie. head injury, stroke, and brain tumors). In addition, diseases related to aging such as presenile dementia and Alzheimer's Disease are becoming a serious health problem. One of the major goals of basic and clincial research in the Neurosciences is to find new ways to improve recovery and the quality of life. The proposed project provides a means of studying the unique process of neurogenesis and nerve cell replacement that takes place in the mammalian olfactory system. Procedures will be used to induce degeneration of sensory neurons. Subsequent neurogenesis and recovery will be studied using quantitative methods to determine the capacity and limits of this process. Experiments are planned to determine the ability of replacement neuronsto reestablish connections with the central nervous system and restore function. In addition, a group of old animals will be studied to determine if the capacity for neurogenesis and recovery continues into old age. A technique developed for transplanting olfactory neurons into different regions of the CNS will be used to determine the capacity of these neurons to survive in host brain tissue. The persistence of neurogenesis within transplants and the growth of axons into the host brain could hve signficant impact on the field of regeneration. It is expected that data from the proposed study will produce new information about mechanism of neurogenesis and recovery following nerve cell injury. Potentially these studies may lead to methods for the repair of damaged pathways in the human central nervous system.