Bioelectrics Seminar Series - Influence of Cold Atmospheric Plasma on C. elegans Axon Regeneration
Speaker: Jacob Manjarrez, PhD, Frank Reidy Research Center for Bioelectrics, Old Dominion University
Title: The Influence of Cold Atmospheric Plasma on Caenorhabditis elegans Axon Regeneration
When: 9:00 AM, Tuesday, April 5, 2016
Where: 1st floor conference room, IRP II
Abstract: It has been shown that the ability of injured axons to regenerate declines with age. The development of a treatment to overcome this decline would improve the viability of damaged axons associated with spinal cord injuries. In recent years, Caenorhabditis elegans has emerged as a model for the study of axon regeneration through the development of axotomy. Axotomy is a precise procedure, which uses a laser to sever a single axon. This technique is used to investigate the effect of cold atmospheric plasma (CAP) on axon regeneration through growth cone initiation and complete regeneration. Here we show that axon regeneration in aged C.elegans is enhanced with treatment by CAP. In five day old C.elegans growth cone formation, the first step in axon regeneration, increases following treatment with CAP by approximately 40%. The treatment also expedites the full regeneration of axons with approximately one-third of axons regenerating in a six hours period. This is accomplished with a small increase in the C.elegans average lifespan compared to sham control. The mechanism that enables CAP to overcome the age related decline in axon regeneration points to the conserved neuron related pathways that are currently under investigation.
Jacob Manjarrez 04052016.pdf (177.8 KB)
Posted By: Barbara Carroll
Date: Mon Apr 04 08:28:36 EDT 2016