Crosstalk between immune system and nervous system in the pathogenesis of spinal cord injury

2017 Fiscal Year Final Research Report

• Project/Area Number: 26713047
• Research Category: Grant-in-Aid for Young Scientists (A)
• Allocation Type: Partial Multi-year Fund
• Research Field: Orthopaedic surgery
• Research Institution: Keio University
• Principal Investigator: KOHYAMA JUN 慶應義塾大学, 医学部(信濃町), 准教授 (30437511)
• Project Period (FY): 2014-04-01 – 2018-03-31
• Keywords: 脊髄損傷 / Notchシグナル

Outline of Final Research Achievements

To unravel mechanistic insight in progression of spinal cord injury, I focused on the interaction between the immune system and the nervous system. I initially discovered activation of Sox2 exprssion in the injured site and,importantly, the Sox2-positive cells were surrounded by microglial cells. To further clarify the mechanism of Sox2 upregulation, we characterized the cells and found that these cells were oligodendrocyte precursor cells (OPCs). At the site of spinal cord injury, immune cell accumulation was observed after injury, and these immune cells expressed ligand for Notch signaling. Then, proliferation of OPCs was activated by Notch signaling. Furthermore, conditional knockout of RBP-J, an effector of Notch signaling, in OPCs resulted in defect in activation of OPCs, indicating that interaction between immune system and nervous system, which was mediated by Notch signaling is important for pathogenesis of spinal cord injury.

Free Research Field

神経科学一般