Elucidating glial diversity in the peripheral nervous system

NIH RePORTER · NIH · R21 · $444,125 · view on reporter.nih.gov ↗

Abstract

Peripheral nerve assembly requires the coordinated development of many components, including axons and the glial cells that ensheath them. Currently, we have a broad perspective of the structure of peripheral nerves and the events that govern nerve assembly. However, we still lack a complete picture of all of the cellular and molecular mechanisms that mediate these events, and whether perturbations to these processes underlie disease. This is in part due to the fact that we still don’t have a full appreciation of the diversity of glial populations that make up these structures and there are currently no specific markers for any peripheral glial population. Additionally, although peripheral nerves are often grouped together as a single, uniform structure, there are in fact many types, including cranial, trunk, sensory, and motor, as well as spatial organization along the proximal-distal axis. However, whether there is any glial diversity between or along these structures, and whether this diversity is what contributes to the differences observed between these nerves with respect to function and susceptibility to disease, has yet to be determined. Using single-nuclei RNA-sequencing coupled with the powerful system, zebrafish, we will create a molecular taxonomy of peripheral glial subpopulations and decipher their roles in nervous system development.

Key facts

NIH application ID
10314960
Project number
1R21NS124164-01
Recipient
UNIVERSITY OF VIRGINIA
Principal Investigator
Sarah C Kucenas
Activity code
R21
Funding institute
NIH
Fiscal year
2021
Award amount
$444,125
Award type
1
Project period
2021-07-15 → 2023-12-31