Lecture Checkpoints of Central Nervous System recovery (TRR274)

The CNS is a terminally differentiated tissue, where any insult carries a heightened risk - yet the tissue response to these insults is variable and can range from irreversible destruction to almost complete recovery. The rules that instruct these divergent outcomes are still unknown. The topic of this lecture series is the biology of the multicellular response that determines recovery after CNS injury. We will focus on the multi-scale, spatio-temporal cell biology in different models of CNS injury. The participants will not only be introduced to principles of CNS recovery, but also the new imaging technology that is necessary to study the biology. Another focus will be put on neuronal, glial and immunological aspects of CNS recovery/damage.

Learning objectives:

-  Introduction into various inflammatory, traumatic, metabolic or ischemic models and their various mechanisms that determine the balance between reconstitution and scarring (e.g. multiple sclerosis and inflammation induced CNS damage, axonal injury and loss, spinal cord injury, stroke)

- Introduction into imaging approaches in neuroscience (specifically electron microscopy techniques to understand ultrastructural details of CNS tissue and in vivo imaging approaches)

- Principles of CNS recovery from a neuronal, glial and immunological perspective (e.g. Remyelination, axonal regeneration, role of inflammatory cells in injury and recovery)

-  Presentation of current research findings in the recovery of the CNS recovery (therapeutic approaches and molecular targets)