Measuring Astrocyte Response to Mild Traumatic Brain Injury

Presenter

Benjamin Paul Pepper

Campus

UMass Amherst

Sponsor

Shelly Peyton, Department of Chemical Engineering, UMass Amherst

Schedule

Session 2, 11:30 AM - 12:15 PM [Schedule by Time][Poster Grid for Time/Location]

Location

Poster Board A96, Campus Center Auditorium, Row 5 (A81-A100) [Poster Location Map]

Abstract

Mild Traumatic Brain Injury (mTBI), also known as a concussion, is an injury that one encounters when hit hard in the head. It is associated with harmful waves that go through the brain which causes permanent brain damage. In mTBI, the astrocyte cells of the brain transform from a normal branched quiescent state to a more branched, bushy reactive state. Astrocytes in the brain help repair damaged tissue by transitioning to this reactive state. The transition causes several proteins to be expressed, potentially linked to long-term neurological diseases. Synthetic brain-like collagen hydrogels were used to model the brain so we can observe the damage associated with blast waves. Hydrogels are a primarily water-based material with collagen protein acting as the environment the astrocytes grow in. The hydrogel was optimized to mimic the brain’s Young’s modulus of ~1 kPa. The blast injury was simulated using a technique called Needle-Induced Cavitation (NIC) to blow a bubble in the gel with a needle that will collapse and send a microscopic shock wave through the gel. Thanks to hydrogel transparency, videos were taken of the NIC events. Microscope images captured the immediate and delayed responses of astrocytes to injury, revealing a clear transition to a reactive state. The cells will be stained post-injury for various proteins to quantify astrocyte production due to mTBI. The primary objective of this study is to further understand the role of reactive astrocytes in mild traumatic brain injuries.

Keywords

Traumatic Brain Injury, Astrocytes, Hydrogels

Research Area

Engineering

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