Maiken Nedergaard

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Maiken Nedergaard is a Danish neuroscientist most well known for discovering the glymphatic system. She is a jointly appointed professor in the Departments of Neuroscience and Neurology at the University of Rochester Medical Center. She holds a part-time appointment in the Department of Neurosurgery within the University of Rochester Center for Translational Neuromedicine, where she is the principal investigator of the Division of Glial Disease and Therapeutics laboratory. She is also Professor of Glial Cell Biology at the University of Copenhagen, Center for Translational Neuromedicine. [1]

Contents

Education

Nedergaard attended the University of Copenhagen, where she received an M.D. in 1983 and a D.M.Sc in 1988. She completed post-doctoral training in neuropathology/physiology at the University of Copenhagen (1984–1987) and subsequently in neuroscience at Weill Cornell Medicine (1987–1988). [2]

Research

In 2010, Nedergaard discovered the role of the adenosine molecule in acupuncture-induced analgesia. [3]

In 2013, Nedergaard discovered the glymphatic system, a network of channels in the brain whose purpose is to eliminate toxins using cerebrospinal fluid (CSF). She called it the "glymphatic system" due to its dependence on glial cells. [4] She was awarded the 2014 Newcomb Cleveland Prize for her discovery. [5]

Subsequent research by Nedergaard and colleagues has revealed that the aquaporin-4 water channel protein plays a crucial role in modulating the flow of CSF between the perivascular space and the brain interstitium. Dysfunction of the glymphatic system has been shown to impair healing after traumatic injury and to accelerate the accumulation of toxic metabolites such as amyloid beta, implicating the glymphatic system in neurodegenerative diseases such as Alzheimer's disease, Huntington's disease, and Parkinson's disease. [6] The glymphatic system has also been shown to interact with the recently discovered meningeal lymphatic system. [7]

Presently, Nedergaard's lab focuses on neuron-glia interactions, the glymphatic system, astrocyte evolution, cerebral blood flow regulation, chronic pain, and the role of glia after stroke or spinal cord injury. [8]

Awards and honors

Nedergaard's discovery of the glymphatic system was honored as one of Science Magazine's ten "Breakthroughs of the Year" in 2013. [9] In 2014, she accepted a Novo Nordisk Foundation Laureate Research Grant in 2014 to assist in establishing a Center for Basic and Translational Neuroscience at the University of Copenhagen. [10] She remains affiliated with both the University of Copenhagen and the University of Rochester.

Nedergaard has received numerous individual prizes for her contributions to the study of neuron-glia interactions in health and disease:

Related Research Articles

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Glia, also called glial cells (gliocytes) or neuroglia, are non-neuronal cells in the central nervous system and the peripheral nervous system that do not produce electrical impulses. The neuroglia make up more than one half the volume of neural tissue in the human body. They maintain homeostasis, form myelin in the peripheral nervous system, and provide support and protection for neurons. In the central nervous system, glial cells include oligodendrocytes, astrocytes, ependymal cells and microglia, and in the peripheral nervous system they include Schwann cells and satellite cells.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Astrocyte</span> Type of brain cell

Astrocytes, also known collectively as astroglia, are characteristic star-shaped glial cells in the brain and spinal cord. They perform many functions, including biochemical control of endothelial cells that form the blood–brain barrier, provision of nutrients to the nervous tissue, maintenance of extracellular ion balance, regulation of cerebral blood flow, and a role in the repair and scarring process of the brain and spinal cord following infection and traumatic injuries. The proportion of astrocytes in the brain is not well defined; depending on the counting technique used, studies have found that the astrocyte proportion varies by region and ranges from 20% to around 40% of all glia. Another study reports that astrocytes are the most numerous cell type in the brain. Astrocytes are the major source of cholesterol in the central nervous system. Apolipoprotein E transports cholesterol from astrocytes to neurons and other glial cells, regulating cell signaling in the brain. Astrocytes in humans are more than twenty times larger than in rodent brains, and make contact with more than ten times the number of synapses.

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Radial glial cells, or radial glial progenitor cells (RGPs), are bipolar-shaped progenitor cells that are responsible for producing all of the neurons in the cerebral cortex. RGPs also produce certain lineages of glia, including astrocytes and oligodendrocytes. Their cell bodies (somata) reside in the embryonic ventricular zone, which lies next to the developing ventricular system.

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Benjamin Anthony "Ben" Barres was an American neurobiologist at Stanford University. His research focused on the interaction between neurons and glial cells in the nervous system. Beginning in 2008, he was chair of the Neurobiology Department at Stanford University School of Medicine. He transitioned to male in 1997, and became the first openly transgender scientist in the National Academy of Sciences in 2013.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Müller glia</span> Glial cell type in the retina

Müller glia, or Müller cells, are a type of retinal glial cells, first recognized and described by Heinrich Müller. They are found in the vertebrate retina, where they serve as support cells for the neurons, as all glial cells do. They are the most common type of glial cell found in the retina. While their cell bodies are located in the inner nuclear layer of the retina, they span across the entire retina.

Gliotransmitters are chemicals released from glial cells that facilitate neuronal communication between neurons and other glial cells. They are usually induced from Ca2+ signaling, although recent research has questioned the role of Ca2+ in gliotransmitters and may require a revision of the relevance of gliotransmitters in neuronal signalling in general.

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References

  1. Burton A (2018). "Making Maiken Nedergaard". Lancet Neurol. 17 (11): 935. doi: 10.1016/S1474-4422(18)30365-X . PMID   30353865.
  2. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 "Maiken Nedergaard, M.D., D.M.Sc". University of Rochester Medical Center. Retrieved 19 April 2019.
  3. Wilkinson, Emma (30 May 2010). "Acupuncture pain molecule pinpointed". BBC . Retrieved 18 February 2014.
  4. Konnikova, Maria (11 January 2014). "Goodnight. Sleep Clean". The New York Times . Retrieved 18 February 2014. She called it the glymphatic system, a nod to its dependence on glial cells
  5. 1 2 "Paper on Sleep's Restorative Effects Wins 2014 AAAS Newcomb Cleveland Prize". American Association for the Advancement of Science. Retrieved 24 February 2015.
  6. 1 2 Otmani M. "Maiken Nedergaard receives the Nordic Fernström Prize". Nordic Life Science News. Retrieved 19 April 2019.
  7. Rasmussen MK, Mestre H, Nedergaard M (2018). "The glymphatic pathway in neurological disorders". Lancet Neurol. 17 (11): 1016–1024. doi:10.1016/S1474-4422(18)30318-1. PMC   6261373 . PMID   30353860.
  8. "Nedergaard Lab". University of Rochester Medical Center. Retrieved 19 April 2019.
  9. "Science's Top 10 Breakthroughs of 2013". Science Magazine. Retrieved 19 April 2019. To sleep, perchance to clean
  10. "Tre international forskere flytter til København". Novo Nordisk Foundation (in Danish). Retrieved 24 February 2015.
  11. "Maiken Nedergaard Wins 2024 HFSP Nakasone Award for Pioneering Science of Sleep and Neurodegenerative Disease | Human Frontier Science Program". www.hfsp.org. Retrieved 2024-05-16.