| Affiliations: | |
| Project Leader: | Regina Brunauer rbrunauer@cvm.tamu.edu Veterinary Physiology & Pharmacology |
| Faculty Mentor: | |
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Meeting Times:
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Team Size:
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4
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| Open Spots: | 0 |
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Special Opportunities:
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wet lab experience (if you are already lab trained); image data analysis |
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Team Needs:
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interest for the subject |
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Description:
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Adult stem cells lose their regenerative power with aging. For the progenitors of bone, cartilage and adipose tissue, the skeletal stem cell (aka mesenchymal stem cell), functional changes with aging are unclear, because standardized surface markers have not been available until recently, and transplantation studies equivalent to hematopoietic repopulation are not feasible. The mouse digit tip has been shown to regenerate thanks to recruitment of lineage-restricted progenitor cells, likely including skeletal stem cells. Recently, populations of skeletal stem cells with slightly different features have been identified based on the expression of different surface proteins. In this project, we will perform immunohistochemical stainings for these different subpopulations and track their contribution to mouse digit tip regeneration, a mammalian equivalent to salamander limb regeneration. A significant part of the project will also involve image data analysis with ImageJ, a widely used software in the life sciences |