Overcoming mechanical barriers to neuronal regeneration

脊髓损伤后，许多人的余生都要坐在轮椅上。造成这种困境的原因是，神经元是连接大脑和身体的脊髓中的关键细胞，不能自我修复，修复目前也不能促进。到目前为止，研究主要集中在阻碍神经元重新生长的化学信号上，没有任何重大突破。拟议的项目将采取另一种方法：我想解开机械障碍是否阻碍了神经元修复，并找到一种方法来克服这些障碍。我将开发一种显微镜技术，首次允许测量和比较健康脊髓组织和损伤部位形成的疤痕组织的硬度。同时，我将研究神经系统细胞对机械刺激的反应，并阐明这些刺激是如何转化为细胞反应的。有了这些知识，我将抑制疤痕环境中细胞对机械刺激的反应。通过这种方式，我将克服疤痕僵硬的负面影响，促进神经元重新生长，最终可能导致受损脊髓组织的修复。

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.