Project 16

Can olfactory ensheathing glia myelinate adult CNS axons?

Olfactory ensheathing glia (OEG) are increasingly being touted as the glial cell that may be the most effective in promoting tissue sparing and regeneration after brain or spinal cord injury (Ruitenberg et al, Brain, 2005). There is still controversy as to whether these glial cells can myelinate axons, an important issue that has a critical bearing on how OEG might improve physiological function after transplantation into the injured CNS. Using the adult retinal explant model we will co-culture retinal explants with either OEG or purified oligodendroglia (the normal mylinating cell in the CNS) and quantify and compare the extent to which these two glial cell types are able to form myelin around the different types of regenerating retinal ganglion cell axons that grow out of the explants.