title: The formation of actin waves during regeneration after axonal lesion is enhanced by BDNF.
abstract: During development, axons of neurons in the mammalian central nervous system lose their ability to regenerate. To study the regeneration process, axons of mouse hippocampal neurons were partially damaged by an UVA laser dissector system. The possibility to deliver very low average power to the sample reduced the collateral thermal damage and allowed studying axonal regeneration of mouse neurons during early days in vitro. Force spectroscopy measurements were performed during and after axon ablation with a bead attached to the axonal membrane and held in an optical trap. With this approach, we quantified the adhesion of the axon to the substrate and the viscoelastic properties of the membrane during regeneration. The reorganization and regeneration of the axon was documented by long-term live imaging. Here we demonstrate that BDNF regulates neuronal adhesion and favors the formation of actin waves during regeneration after axonal lesion.
authors.affiliation: Department of Neuroscience and Brain Technologies, Istituto Italiano di Tecnologia, via Morego 30 16163 Genova. francesco.difato@iit.it
authors.forename: Francesco
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Difato
authors.forename: Hanako
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Tsushima
authors.forename: Mattia
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Pesce
authors.forename: Fabio
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Benfenati
authors.forename: Axel
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Blau
authors.forename: Evelina
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Chieregatti
mesh_terms: D000199:Actins / Q000378:metabolism*; D000818:Animals; D001369:Axons / Q000378:metabolism / Q000473:pathology*; D019208:Brain-Derived Neurotrophic Factor / Q000378:metabolism*; D002490:Central Nervous System / Q000473:pathology; D003599:Cytoskeleton / Q000378:metabolism; D005109:Extracellular Matrix / Q000378:metabolism; D005786:Gene Expression Regulation; D006624:Hippocampus / Q000378:metabolism; D007368:Interferometry / Q000379:methods; D007834:Lasers; D051379:Mice; D008810:Mice, Inbred C57BL; D009474:Neurons / Q000378:metabolism; D052898:Optical Tweezers; D055095:Optics and Photonics / Q000379:methods; D012038:Regeneration; D014466:Ultraviolet Rays
chemical_list: D000199:Actins; D019208:Brain-Derived Neurotrophic Factor