Grant: Project Grant

Numerous neurological conditions and traumatic injuries disrupt connections between nerve in the adult mammalian central nervous system (CNS). Damaged CNS neurons have a limited capacity to repair themselves leading to motor, sensory and cognitive impairments. Promoting axon regeneration could support neurological recovery from a variety of conditions and serve as an adjunct for cellular transplantation approaches. There are currently no approved treatments to stimulate CNS axon regeneration. An exciting advance in the CNS regeneration field is that small molecules that target a family of protein-protein interactions (PPIs) between a family of proteins called 14-3-3 and their binding partners promote regeneration in an experimental regeneration model. These small molecules are interesting because they can serve as tool compounds to be developed for therapeutic use. In this project we will examine the role of these PPIs in regulating the cellular response to injury in the CNS and in using this information for the conception and validation of therapeutic strategies to promote functional axon regeneration following CNS injury.