PURPOSE The goal of this study was to determine the changes in the organization of the retinal cytoskeleton after experimental retinal detachment. METHODS Cat retinas were detached from the retinal pigment epithelium and then processed for Western blot analysis and fluorescence microscopy. Proteins examined included glial fibrillary acidic protein (GFAP), vimentin, tubulin, and actin. Section...

OBJECTIVES A major impediment for recovery after mammalian spinal cord injury (SCI) is the glial scar formed by proliferating reactive astrocytes. Finding factors that may reduce glial scarring, increase neuronal survival, and promote neurite outgrowth are of major importance for improving the outcome after SCI. Exogenous fibroblast growth factor (Fgf) has been shown to decrease injury volume a...

We have recently reported that minimally disturbed adult CNS white matter can support regeneration of adult axons by using a novel microtransplantation technique to inject minute volumes of dissociated adult rat dorsal root ganglion neurons directly into adult rat CNS pathways (Davies et al., 1997). This atraumatic injection procedure minimized scarring and allowed considerable numbers of regen...

BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVE To determine whether 6.45-microm free electron laser (FEL) energy can successfully perform optic nerve sheath fenestration and to compare the acute and chronic cellular responses with this surgery. STUDY DESIGN/MATERIALS AND METHODS Optic nerve sheath fenestration was performed in rabbits by using either FEL energy (< 2.5 mJ, 10 Hz, 325-microm spot size) or a knife. T...

A major barrier to regeneration of CNS axons is the presence of growth-inhibitory proteins associated with myelin and the glial scar. To identify chemical compounds with the ability to overcome the inhibition of regeneration, we screened a novel triazine library, based on the ability of compounds to increase neurite outgrowth from cerebellar neurons on inhibitory myelin substrates. The screen p...

Reactive gliosis is a complex process that involves changes in gene expression and morphological remodeling. The mouse optic nerve, where astrocytes, microglia and oligodendrocytes interact with retinal ganglion cell axons and each other, is a particularly suitable model for studying the molecular mechanisms of reactive gliosis. We triggered gliosis at the mouse optic nerve head by retro orbita...

In this study we evaluated the activation of the cytokine and growth factor responsive transcription factors signal transducer and activator of transcription 3 (STAT3) and nuclear factor kappa B (NFkappaB) after different grades of neural damage in the immature rat brain using double immunocytochemical techniques and electron microscopy. Following neocortical N-methyl-D-aspartate induced excito...

Nanostructured Porous Silicon Scaffolds for Enhanced Biocompatibility of Multichannel Microelectrodes Stefanie Joy Hallman Karen Moxon, Ph.D. Many different types of microelectrodes have been developed for use as a direct Brain-Machine Interface (BMI) to chronically record singleneuron action potentials from ensembles of neurons and control an effector. For example, a BMI device designed for hu...

Proliferation of astrocytes is a dramatic response of the central nervous system (CNS) to injury and disease. Such proliferation results in the formation of the neural/glial scar and the reconstitution of the glial limitans. However, not all astrocytes enter the proliferative cycle following injury, and for those that do, the period of cell division is limited. Little attention has focused on t...

The ability to design long-lasting intracortical implants hinges on understanding the factors leading to the loss of neuronal density and the formation of the glial scar. In this study, we modify a common in vitro mixed cortical culture model using lipopolysaccharide (LPS) to examine the responses of microglia, astrocytes, and neurons to microwire segments. We also use dip-coated polyethylene g...