2018 Fiscal Year Final Research Report
Inhibiting Scar Development for Promoting Stem Cell Engraftment in Chronic Spinal Cord Injuries.
| Project/Area Number |
16K21360
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| Research Category |
Grant-in-Aid for Young Scientists (B)
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| Allocation Type | Multi-year Fund |
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| Research Field |
Orthopaedic surgery
Neurochemistry/Neuropharmacology
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| Research Institution | Keio University |
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Principal Investigator |
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| Research Collaborator |
SON Iki
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| Project Period (FY) |
2016-04-01 – 2019-03-31
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| Keywords | Spinal cord injury / reactive astrocytes / glial scar / chronic scar / stem cell / STAT3 / RhoA |
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| Outline of Final Research Achievements |
#1: We found that molecule X, regulates the expression of several proteases and induces lesion remodeling after SCI, but the survival rate and distribution of transplanted neural stem cells are unchanged, which led us to abandon the theme. #2 The characterization of the gene expression profile of scar-forming reactive astrocytes has been reported by another research group (Hara M. et al., Nature Medicine, 2017). #3: We found that the transcription factor STAT3 regulates the dynamics of reactive astrocytes in vitro and glial scar formation in vivo. This study was published in the Journal of Cell Biology (Renault-Mihara et al., 2017).#4: Two different experimental models were used to characterize novel markers of pathological nerve scars. Our hypothesis is those genes are associated with incomplete healing in the central nervous system. This study is still in progress.
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| Free Research Field |
spinal cord injury
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| Academic Significance and Societal Importance of the Research Achievements |
Spinal cord injury is a major medical problem as all the surviving patients inevitably become chronic patients. Our research focusing on the mechanisms of scar formation and stabilization in the subacute and chronic phases respectively may help design new therapeutic strategies.
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