RegBrain – Dissecting brain regeneration in the axolotl

The brain is essential for everyday life, but in most animalsespecially adult mammalsit has only a very limited ability to repair itself after injury. Although some new brain cells can form, most do not survive, and brain damage often leads to lasting loss of function. The salamander axolotl is a striking exception. After brain injury, it can fully restore lost tissue by activating stem cells that generate new neurons. Despite this remarkable ability, we still do not understand how these stem cells recreate the correct variety of neurons, or why regeneration succeeds in some cases but fails in others. We focus on the axolotl olfactory bulb, a brain region involved in the sense of smell, and investigate how its regeneration depends on the presence of the olfactory nerve. Scientists have known for decades that nerves are required for successful brain regeneration, but the reasons behind this dependence remain unclear. The axolotl olfactory system allows us to directly study why regeneration succeeds in some cases but not in others. Our aim is to understand how stem cells rebuild the olfactory bulb from scratch, how they produce the correct types of neurons, and which key factors control nerve-dependent regeneration. By uncovering these mechanisms, we hope to identify general principles that determine whether brain repair is successful. In the long term, this research may provide important insights into why brain regeneration is possible in some situations but not in others.

No additional funding sources recorded.