Astrocytes in CNS Injury & Repair

Do you see what we see in the lily pads? They are mouse spinal cord sections decorated with astrocytes — the star shaped cells of the central nervous system (CNS). Astrocytes maintain CNS homeostasis in health and react to insults with functional changes called astrogliosis. Reactive astrocytes are key modifiers of CNS disease/injury outcomes. Understanding their regulation, functions, and diversity in the injured CNS is therefore critical to harnessing their therapeutic potential for neural repair.

Towards this goal, our lab studies : 1) how astrogliosis is regulated; 2) how reactive astrocytes instruct the injury response of neurons and other types of glia; and 3) how reactive astrocytes can be therapeutically targeted. We address these questions using mouse genetics, mouse spinal cord injury and stroke models, behavioral analyses, molecular and cellular biology, primary cell culture, and genomics. We are uniquely situated in the Spinal Cord and Brain Injury Research Center (SCoBIRC) at the University of Kentucky that provides an outstanding environment for neurotrauma research.