title: Transcriptomic Approaches to Neural Repair.
abstract: Understanding why adult CNS neurons fail to regenerate their axons following injury remains a central challenge of neuroscience research. A more complete appreciation of the biological mechanisms shaping the injured nervous system is a crucial prerequisite for the development of robust therapies to promote neural repair. Historically, the identification of regeneration associated signaling pathways has been impeded by the limitations of available genetic and molecular tools. As we progress into an era in which the high-throughput interrogation of gene expression is commonplace and our knowledge base of interactome data is rapidly expanding, we can now begin to assemble a more comprehensive view of the complex biology governing axon regeneration. Here, we highlight current and ongoing work featuring transcriptomic approaches toward the discovery of novel molecular mechanisms that can be manipulated to promote neural repair.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Transcriptional profiling is a powerful technique with broad applications in the field of neuroscience. Recent advances such as single-cell transcriptomics, CNS cell type-specific and developmental stage-specific expression libraries are rapidly enhancing the power of transcriptomics for neuroscience applications. However, extracting biologically meaningful information from large transcriptomic datasets remains a formidable challenge. This mini-symposium will highlight current work using transcriptomic approaches to identify regulatory networks in the injured nervous system. We will discuss analytical strategies for transcriptomics data, the significance of noncoding RNA networks, and the utility of multiomic data integration. Though the studies featured here specifically focus on neural repair, the approaches highlighted in this mini-symposium will be of broad interest and utility to neuroscientists working in diverse areas of the field.
authors.affiliation: Department of Neurosciences, University of California, San Diego, La Jolla, California 92093, jdulin@ucsd.edu.
authors.forename: Jennifer N
authors.identifier: http://orcid.org/0000-0001-5767-4290
authors.initials: JN
authors.lastname: Dulin
authors.affiliation: Wolfson Centre for Age-Related Disease, King's College London, London SE1 1UL, United Kingdom.
authors.forename: Ana
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Antunes-Martins
authors.affiliation: Program in Neurogenetics, Department of Neurology, David Geffen School of Medicine, University of California, Los Angeles, Los Angeles, California 90095.
authors.forename: Vijayendran
authors.initials: V
authors.lastname: Chandran
authors.affiliation: F.M. Kirby Neurobiology Center, Boston Children's Hospital, Boston, Massachusetts 02115, Department of Neurobiology, Harvard Medical School, Boston, Massachusetts 02115, Department of Anesthesia, Boston Children's Hospital, Boston, Massachusetts 02115.
authors.forename: Michael
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Costigan
authors.affiliation: Department of Neuroscience, Center for Brain and Spinal Cord Repair, The Ohio State University, Columbus, Ohio 43210.
authors.forename: Jessica K
authors.initials: JK
authors.lastname: Lerch
authors.affiliation: Burke-Cornell Medical Research Institute, White Plains, New York 10605, Feil Family Brain and Mind Research Institute, Weill Cornell Medical College, New York, New York 10065, and.
authors.forename: Dianna E
authors.identifier: http://orcid.org/0000-0003-1442-3533
authors.initials: DE
authors.lastname: Willis
authors.affiliation: Department of Neurosciences, University of California, San Diego, La Jolla, California 92093, Veterans Affairs Medical Center, San Diego, California 92161.
authors.forename: Mark H
authors.initials: MH
authors.lastname: Tuszynski
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D002493:Central Nervous System Diseases / Q000235:genetics* / Q000378:metabolism*; D020869:Gene Expression Profiling / Q000379:methods*; D006801:Humans; D009416:Nerve Regeneration / Q000502:physiology*; D059467:Transcriptome / Q000502:physiology*