08-07-08(9:44:35)
Authors:
Döbrössy MD
Institutions:
Stereotactic Neurosurgery, Neurozentrum, Universitätsklinikum, Breisacher Str. 64, 79106 Freiburg, Germany
Title of abstract : Environmental and experience-dependent graft plasticity and functional recovery in a rodent HD model
Abstract text:
The objective of cell replacement therapy is to repair the nervous system by introducing new cells that can replace the function of the compromised or lost cells. The capacity of grafted cells to mitigate damage or promote recovery can be optimised by external factors. The effects of enriched environment, behavioural experience and grafting can each separately influence neuronal plasticity and recovery of function after brain damage. However, the mechanisms by which these factors interact, so that the environment or training might modify the survival, integration or function of grafted tissues is at present unknown. To improve the outcome following brain damage, cell replacement therapy must both make use of the endogenous potential for recovery of the host and optimise the external circumstances associated with any intervention. In particular, the observation that for some aspects of recovery striatal grafts require training indicates that graft function and experience are not simply independent and additive, but fundamentally interactive. The aim of my research is to describe the environmental and the training conditions that stimulate the plasticity and the compensation achieved by neural grafts as the basis for maximising the transplant mediated functional benefits following brain damage or disease. In addition, and conversely to the previously stated aim, my objective is to determine how the behavioural recovery of the animal is dependent on mechanisms and cellular events within the graft associated with plasticity that are affected by experience and the environment.
