Life Sciences & Biotechnology
Title : | Unraveling the epigenetic regulation responsible for regenerative neurogenesis and axonal regrowth after spinal cord injury in zebrafish. |
Area of research : | Life Sciences & Biotechnology |
Principal Investigator : | Dr. subhra Prakash Hui, University Of Calcutta, West Bengal |
Timeline Start Year : | 2023 |
Timeline End Year : | 2026 |
Contact info : | sphsnp@caluniv.ac.in |
Equipments : | stereoZoom Microscope |
Details
Executive Summary : | Any traumatic injury or disease to the spinal cord causes dysfunction sensory and motor activity, which leads to chronic disabilities and death. Post- spinal cord injury (sCI) epigenetic changes have a vital role in pathological recovery, including proliferation of neural stem cells (NsCs). Epigenetic regulation has a vital role in various pathological and physiological processes in the central nervous system (CNs), including proliferation, differentiation, survival, and regeneration, according to emerging evidences (Kameda et al. 2018). sCI involves a series of epigenetic changes, some of which are closely linked to processes including axon regrowth, glial activation, neurogenesis, and ependymal cell reprogramming (Li et al. 2016). The extracellular stress signal associated with sCI can be transformed into intracellular signals receivable by endogenous spinal cord cells by identifying these epigenetic alterations. Decoding the regulatory controls driving these post-sCI epigenetic modifications is therefore critical for the development of therapeutic remedies that boost sCI recovery process. Decoding the post-sCI epigenetic modifications is therefore critical for the development of future therapeutics to boost sCI recovery process. Zebrafish has recently become a popular model to study adult tissue regeneration because of its ability to regenerate multiple body parts throughout their adulthood and the ease of high-throughput genetics. In addition, it has now become an important model for the study of human diseases because of the high similarities of genome homology (~90%) and functional domain of proteins (~95%) with humans (Howe et al., 2013). Moreover, the similarity in the organogenesis and development of nervous systems, cardiovascular and gastrointestinal, between humans and zebrafish (Hsu et al., 2007) has also been observed. Injury-induced proliferation of resident NsCs and formation of new neurons are the key intrinsic mechanisms of zebrafish spinal cord regeneration. However, very little is known about the epigenetic regulations after sCI and how they contribute in successful spinal cord regeneration. Here, we propose to unravel the epigenetic regulation of NsCs after sCI and to examine their functional role in regenerative neurogenesis, to lay down the road map for future regenerative therapies of CNs injury and diseases manipulating the epigenetic regulators of NsCs. |
Co-PI: | Dr. Arindam Biswas, National Neurosciences Centre, West Bengal, Kolkata-700094 |
Total Budget (INR): | 40,80,000 |
Organizations involved