NEUROSCIENCE

Dr Dirk M. Lang

Collaborators:

Assoc. Prof. Sue Kidson, Dept. of Human Biology, UCT
Assoc. Prof. Viv Russell, Dept. of Human Biology, UCT
Assoc. Prof. Nicci Illing, Dept. of Molecular and Cell Biology, UCT
Dr. Alan St. Clair Gibson, Sports Science Institute
Prof. Maximina Monzon-Mayor, University of Las Palmas, Spain
Dr. Penka Pesheva, University of Bonn, Germany

Injury to the human central nervous system (CNS) leads to permanent loss of the affected functions and its tragic consequences are well known. This is mainly because the lesioned neurones fail to re-grow their axons and cannot re-establish contact with their appropriate target areas. In contrast, injured CNS neurones in lower vertebrates, such as fish and amphibians, have a remarkable ability to regenerate axons and rapidly re-establish functional connections with their targets.
Against this background, my main research interest is focused on the role of neurone-intrinsic properties and factors in the CNS microenvironment (such as glial cells and extracellular matrix) that might be the underlying cause of these striking differences. The insight derived from these studies forms the basis for experimental approaches to enhance axon regeneration in the mammalian CNS.
Another key interest, and closely related to the problem of axon regeneration, are the processes underlying the formation of specific nerve connections during development.
Practical approaches to these research topics include a wide range of methods, from neuroanatomy to cell- and tissue culture, molecular biology and digital imaging techniques.

	Xenopus oligodendrocytes in vitro, immunostained with antibodies to the differentiation marker GalC (red). Nuclei are labelled with DAPI (blue). Oligodendrocytes play a crucial role in the process of axon regeneration.
	Xenopus oligodendrocytes, immunostained with antibodies to the intermediate filament protein GFAP (green). Nuclei labelled with DAPI (blue). GFAP (glial fibrillary acidic protein) is a commonly used marker protein for the identification of glial cells.
	Oligodendrocytes, double-labelled with antibodies to GalC (red) and GFAP (green). Nuclei are visualised with DAPI (blue). Only differentiated oligodendrocytes express GalC.
	A rat dorsal root ganglion growth cone in vitro, immunolabelled with antibodies to the cell adhesion protein L1. The growth cone is the motile tip of a growing axon, equipped with numerous receptors for environmental guidance cues.