System xc– is a heterodimeric amino acid transporter comprised of a light chain unit, xCT, which confers the transport specificity, and a heavy chain unit, 4F2hc. System xc– has been shown to facilitate the exchange of intracellular glutamate for extracellular cystine, which is rapidly reduced within the cell to cysteine, the limiting reagent for glutathione (GSH) production. GSH is an endogenous reducing reagent that is important in mitigating the oxidative stress that, untreated, can trigger cell death. It has been shown that system xc– is strongly expressed in the central nervous system, particularly in activated neuroprotective cells such as astrocytes and glia. It is believed that relief of oxidative stress in the environment of neurons and their protective counterparts is critical in processes such as neuroregeneration. The thrust of the current study is to identify the role that xCT plays in neuroregeneration in vivo using femtosecond laser ablation to initiate apoptosis, followed by neuroregeneration. Initial results will be presented including expression patterns of the xCT gene in developing zebrafish and preliminary examples of laser ablation.

Exploring the role of xCT in neuroregeneration through laser ablation of zebrafish neurons

251st National Meeting (2016)

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