Axon Regeneration

A central topic in neurobiology concerns the study of the formation of neuronal connections and their potential or failure to regenerate after injury. In the peripheral nervous system (PNS) injured neurons usually do regenerate quite successfully. In contrast, in the central nervous system (CNS) axonal regeneration is hampered by a lack of neurotrophic support, the formation of scar tissue, the expression of neurite outgrowth- inhibitory proteins at and around the site of the lesion, and a deficiency in the intrinsic ability of CNS neurons to initiate a program of gene expression that supports regeneration.

The overall objective of the Laboratory for Neuroregeneration is to unravel the biological mechanisms that govern successful regeneration in the PNS and that underlie degeneration and regenerative failure in the CNS. The primary long-term research objective is to make significant contributions to the field of restorative neuroscience and neurology.

The Laboratory for Neuroregeneration has 3 research lines:

Research line 1: Functional genomics: from target to therapy

Research line 2: Inhibitors of neuroregeneration: semaphorins

Research line 3: Gene therapy: a repair strategy for the injured CNS and PNS

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Bossers, K., Meerhoff, G., Balesar, R., Van Dongen, J., Kruse, C., Swaab, D.F., Verhaagen J. (2009) Analysis of gene expression in Parkinson’s disease: possible involvement of neurotrophic support and axon guidance in dopaminergic cell death. Brain Pathology 19: 91-107

Blits, B., Verhaagen, J. (2009) Gene therapy for neurological disease. Encyclopedia of Neuroscience (Springer) pp. 1682-1687

Verhaagen, J., Pasterkamp, R.J. (2009) Semaphorins. New Encyclopedia of Neuroscience (Elsevier) pp. 577 – 583.