Dana M McTigue, Ph.D.

Dana M McTigue, Ph.D.

Assistant Professor,                 

Department of Neuroscience

Degree: Ohio State University

Postdoctoral Training: Ohio State University

PHONE: (614) 292-5523

FAX: (614) 688-8742

E-MAIL: mctigue.2@osu.edu

Laboratory for Glial Repair

Research Area:

Spinal cord injury and recovery of function, demyelination and remyelination, oligodendrocyte progenitor function, transplantation

Current Research:

Ongoing projects include the following: 1) Use models of demyelination to assess changes in oligodendrocytes and oligodendrocyte progenitor cells (OPCs). These models are used to assess treatment strategies to enhance myelin sparing and remyelination as well as axon preservation.  2) Determine the response of oligodendrocytes and OPCs to spinal cord injury in adults. New oligodendrocytes do not originate from existing oligodendrocytes (which are post-mitotic) but instead derive from OPCs found throughout the adult CNS. Thus, OPCs that survive a spinal cord injury provide a population of cells that could be induced to form new oligodendrocytes. Studies are aimed at determining the response of these cells to CNS trauma and the effectiveness of applying specific growth factors or other agents that may improve OPC survival, proliferation and/or differentiation.  The long-term goal of these studies is to determine if myelination of injured CNS tissue can be improved and if this results in improved functional outcomes.  3) In vitro analysis of cells isolated from injured spinal cords. In these studies, OPCs are isolated at different times after spinal cord injury and their responsiveness to different growth factor combinations is examined. These studies will determine how OPCs are affected by exposure to trauma and can serve as an important screening mechanism tp evaluate which growth factors hold the most promise for different stages of spinal cord injury, e.g., acute versus chronic times post-injury.

Techniques:

This laboratory uses a variety of techniques to study changes after spinal cord injury. Students will have the opportunity to learn surgical techniques, behavioral analysis of spinal injured animals, light and confocal microscopy, image analysis of CNS tissue, immunohistochemistry, preparation and analysis of plastic embedded tissue, cell culture.

Representative Publications:

Ankeny DA, McTigue DM, Jakeman LB (submitted) Transplanted bone marrow stromal cells activate hindlimb airstepping and provide a scaffold for axon growth in the injured spinal cord.   

Ankeny DP, McTigue DM, Guan Z, Yan Q, Kinstler O, Stokes BT, Jakeman LB (2001) Intrathecal pegylated brain-derived neurotrophic factor stimulates functional recovery and morphological repair following spinal cord injury. Exp. Neurol, 170:85-100.  

McTigue DM, Wei, P, Stokes BT (2001) Proliferation of NG2+ cells and altered oligodendrocyte numbers in the contused rat spinal cord. J Neurosci, 21:3392-3400.  

McTigue DM, Popovich PG, Morgan TE, Stokes BT (2000)  Localization of transforming growth factor b and receptor mRNA after experimental spinal contusion injury. Exp Neurol, 163:220-230.  

McTigue DM, Horner PJ , Stokes BT, Gage FH (1998)  Neurotrophin-3 and brain-derived neurotrophic factor induce oligodendrocyte proliferation and myelination of regenerating axons in the contused adult rat spinal cord. J Neurosci, 18(14):5354-5365.  

McTigue DM, Tani M, Krivacic K, Chernosky A, Kelner GS, Maciejewski D, Maki R, Ransohoff RM, Stokes BT (1998) Selective chemokine mRNA accumulation in the rat spinal cord after contusion injury.  J Neurosci Res 53:368-376.