Visualization and Enhancement of Spinal Cord Regeneration using Nanoparticles

Student: Sucharita Saha
Department: Biology
Advisor: Donald O’Malley

Abstract

Figure 1: Visualization of retrograde transport of nanoparticles in vivo in spinal cord axons of larval zebrafish (B).

The goal of this project is to employ functionalized nanoparticles to evaluate the feasibility of delivering DNA- or RNA-functionalized nanoparticles to brainstem neurons damaged in spinal cord injury. We will visualize the expression of exogenous neural repair genes in identified brainstem neurons and determine the effects of such expression on axonal regeneration and functional recovery.

This project will establish an important technical paradigm since the retrograde transport of functionalized nanoparticles, has not previously been documented. Using this system, we will be able to test the effects of candidate repair genes in a system in which both the regenerating descending neurons and the target spinal neurons can be individually identified and visualized inside the intact, regenerating animal.