Postdoc Appreciation Week - ICL Brain Sciences

Spinal cord injury (SCI) is a debilitating condition that results in permanent loss of function and reduced quality of life. Damaged spinal cord cells trigger the infiltration of immune cells. One of the major players in post-injury inflammation is the macrophage. We used and optimized mesenchymal stromal cell transplantation for their paracrine effects and crosstalk with macrophages to promote immunomodulation and neuroprotection after SCI.

Ageing is the key risk factor of Alzheimer’s diseases (AD), the most common form of dementia. One of the hallmarks of ageing is the accumulation of senescent cells. Senescence is an irreversible cellular fate triggered by chronic stress where mitotic cells stop proliferating. Using image mass-cytometry (IMC) we found four to five-fold more senescent cells in AD in human post-mortem brain. Our results highlight the relatively high burden of senescent glia, suggesting that they could make a clinically significant contribution to the expression of disease.

Microglia constitute the immune system of the brain. They protect from pathogens, clear up toxins, and regulate neuronal activity. Naturally, microglia are activated in many brain disorders and strategies to modulate their function are actively being pursued to combat neurodegeneration. Meanwhile such research is usually performed in mouse models, we and others have shown that the immune system of the human brain responds differently to the one in mouse. Our studies highlight the importance of early data validation in human models for translational research.