AU affiliated researcher Christian Vægter is awarded a DFF-research project grant
The Danish Council for Independent Research | Medical Sciences has awarded a DFF-Research Project Grant of DKK 2.45 mio. to AU affiliated researcher Christian Vægter.
The grants are awarded with the aim of providing researchers in Denmark the best possible conditions for producing outstanding research results at a high international level.
The DKK 2.45 mio. will finance the project "Satellite Glial cells in Nerve Injury – Modulators of Neurotrophic Signaling following Nerve Injury?" described below.
Damage to the adult PNS induces neurotrophin-mediated mechanisms that control neuronal growth, differentiation and connectivity. Our overall objective is to clarify molecular mechanisms by which neurotrophins contribute to processes underlying neuropathic pain and nerve regeneration following peripheral nerve injury. To achieve this, we focus on a family of receptors, the Sortilins, highly expressed in neuronal tissues. Data from transgenic mice reveal strong effects on neuropathic pain and neuronal regeneration. The project plan involves in vitro as well as in vivo analysis of Satellite Glial Cells (SGC). SGCs respond to peripheral nerve injury by dramatic upregulation of neurotrophic factors, proliferation and inter-SGC communication. Increasing data demonstrate the critical involvement of SGCs in neuropathic pain development, yet very little is known about their basic biology or their regulation of sensory neuron functions following nerve injury.