Microbial challenge promotes the regenerative process of the injured central nervous system of the medicinal leech by inducing the synthesis of antimicrobial peptides in neurons and microglia.

ABSTRACT: Following trauma, the CNS of the medicinal leech, unlike the mammalian CNS, has a strong capacity to regenerate neurites and synaptic connections that restore normal function. In this study, we show that this regenerative process is enhanced by a controlled bacterial infection, suggesting that induction of regeneration of normal CNS function may depend critically upon the coinitiation of an immune response. We explore the interaction between the activation of a neuroimmune response and the process of regeneration by assaying the potential roles of two newly characterized antimicrobial peptides. Our data provide evidence that microbial components differentially induce the transcription, by microglial cells, of both antimicrobial peptide genes, the products of which accumulate rapidly at sit

SUBMITTER: Schikorski D 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC2872924 | biostudies-literature | 2008 Jul

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature