General
Dr. Jo Anne Stratton studies the function of one largely understudied, specialized glia cell in the central nervous system: the ependymal cell. Ependymal cells are multiciliated cells that form the brain’s ventricular epithelium and provide a niche for neural stem cells (NSCs) in the ventricular subventricular zone (V-SVZ) but have been difficult to study due to a lack of transgenic labelling techniques that can effectively distinguish ependymal cells from neighboring NSCs.
This problem also makes it difficult to study their direct interactions with and response to the immune system under homeostatic and injured or diseased states, like during multiple sclerosis (MS) and neurodegeneration. A key component of the Stratton Lab is to develop and implement state-of-the-art techniques for assessing the role of ependymal cells in disease and inflammation.
During this guest lecture, Dr. Stratton will provide her insights.