Maya Laesch
Research Mentor(s): Kanagaraj Palsamy
Mentor Department: Neurology
Authors: Kanagaraj Palsamy, Maya Laesch
Session: Session 4 (1:00pm – 1:50pm)
Presentation Type: Poster 51
Abstract
Cellular and tissue regeneration is a valuable trait for many organisms. It allows the tissue to recover from disease or injury that led to missing or damaged cells. Brain regeneration is thus highly favorable as it would provide a path against neurological diseases and injuries. While many organisms and mammals have limited capacity for this ability, the zebrafish differs. Zebrafish are able to regenerate organs, including the brain, post-injury. Though the goal is finding differences between mammalian brain and zebrafish, their complex system, differences in their cell types and heterogeneity make it harder to compare them. However, comparing two fish species that are very close evolutionarily and anatomically would provide a clearer difference in regenerative response. A phenotypically similar fish, medaka, cannot undergo this regeneration. With little physical differences other than this one, comparison of the two on this basis provides a strong foundation for better understanding why zebrafish are able to achieve this extent of regeneration. We are aiming to induce brain injury in the adult zebrafish and medaka. We will investigate the steps of regeneration (cell death, immune cell recruitment, inflammation initiation and resolution, stem cell response, neuronal differentiation, and brain repair) after injury and compare the two fish species to find the difference that makes zebrafish more successful in regeneration. We expect to see that zebrafish brains will have a significantly different number of new cells (stem cells, microglia, and neutrophils). We’ll then work to identify what allows for this difference. Then we will manipulate the medaka fish to improve their regeneration based on our findings. The ultimate goal is to reproduce such findings in the mammalian brain.
