The Role of Ascl1 in NG2 Cells in the Spinal Cord

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dc.contributor.otherJohnson, Janeen
dc.contributor.otherVue, Tou Yiaen
dc.creatorKelenis, Demetraen
dc.date.accessioned2015-02-14T00:39:51Z
dc.date.available2015-02-14T00:39:51Z
dc.date.issued2015-01-26
dc.descriptionThe 53rd Annual Medical Student Research Forum at UT Southwestern Medical Center (Monday, January 26, 2015, 2-5 p.m., D1.602).en
dc.descriptionEach year the Medical Student Research Program awards students for the best oral presentation and the best poster presentation as judged by faculty across campus. This author received an award as one of the best poster presentations at this forum.en
dc.description.abstractNG2 cells, one of the major glial cell populations within the central nervous system (CNS), are highly proliferative cells identified by the expression of the NG2 proteoglycan. Throughout life, NG2 cells can differentiate into oligodendrocytes to myelinate axon fibers, or they can be maintained in a proliferative or quiescent state as NG2 cells indefinitely. A recent study showed that deletion of tumor suppressor genes specifically within NG2 cells was sufficient to produce brain tumors in a mouse model, indicating that NG2 cells may serve as a potential cell of origin for gliomas. At present, however, understanding of how NG2 cells are regulated to proliferate or differentiate in the CNS remains incomplete. Interestingly, Ascl1, a proneural basic-helix-loop-helix (bHLH) transcription factor that is highly expressed in neural progenitor cells, is also expressed in NG2 cells. Although previous studies have shown that the loss of Ascl1 affects the initial specification and differentiation of NG2 cells, the specific role of Ascl1 in NG2 cells during embryonic and postnatal development remains unknown. In this study, we investigated the direct requirement of Ascl1 in NG2 cells during embryonic and postnatal development in the grey matter (GM) and white matter (WM) of the spinal cord. More specifically, we conditionally deleted Ascl1 specifically within NG2 cells (Ascl1-CKO) at E14.5 or at P30 using an NG2-CreERT2 mouse strain in which the tdTomato (tdTom) fluorescence reporter was also incorporated to allow direct visualization of the development of NG2-labeled (tdTom+) cells. We found that Ascl1-CKO at E14.5 resulted in a decrease in the number of tdTom+ cells in the GM, but an increased number of tdTom+ cells in the WM. In contrast, Ascl1-CKO at P30 resulted in a significant reduction in the number of tdTom+ cells in both the GM and WM. Quantification of the percentage of tdTOM-labeled cells that had differentiated to mature oligodendrocytes revealed that Ascl1-CKO at E14.5 does not affect NG2 cell differentiation, while Ascl1-CKO at P30 accelerated NG2 cell differentiation. Taken together, these findings indicate that Ascl1 is differentially required to regulate the number of NG2 cells in the GM and WM during embryonic development, whereas Ascl1 is essential for regulating both the differentiation and number of NG2 cells in the adult CNS.en
dc.description.sponsorshipSouthwestern Medical Foundationen
dc.identifier.citationKelenis, D., Johnson, J., & Vue, T. Y. (2015, January 26). The role of Ascl1 in NG2 cells in the spinal cord. Poster presented at the 53rd Annual Medical Student Research Form, Dallas, TX. Retrieved from https://hdl.handle.net/2152.5/1515en
dc.identifier.urihttps://hdl.handle.net/2152.5/1515
dc.language.isoenen
dc.relation.ispartofseries53rd Annual Medical Student Research Forumen
dc.subjectBasic Research and Disease Modelsen
dc.subject.localBest Poster Presentation Awarden
dc.subject.meshAstrocytesen
dc.subject.meshBasic Helix-Loop-Helix Transcription Factorsen
dc.subject.meshCell Lineageen
dc.subject.meshOligodendrogliaen
dc.subject.meshSpinal Corden
dc.titleThe Role of Ascl1 in NG2 Cells in the Spinal Corden
dc.typePresentationen

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