Rachelle Franzen

Learn More
In the brain, specific signalling pathways localized in highly organized regions called niches, allow the persistence of a pool of stem and progenitor cells that generate new neurons and glial cells in adulthood. Much less is known on the spinal cord central canal niche where a sustained adult neurogenesis is not observed. Here we review our current(More)
Spontaneous cellular reorganisation at the lesion site has been investigated following massive spinal cord compression injury in adult rats. By 2 days post operation (p.o.), haemorrhagic necrosis, widespread axonal degeneration, and infiltration by polymorphnuclear granulocytes and OX42-positive macrophages were observed in the lesion site. By 7 days p.o.,(More)
Macrophages (monocytes/microglia) could play a critical role in central nervous system repair. We have previously found a synchronism between the regression of spontaneous axonal regeneration and the deactivation of macrophages 3-4 wk after a compression-injury of rat spinal cord. To explore whether reactivation of endogenous macrophages might be beneficial(More)
Spinal cord injury triggers irreversible loss of motor and sensory functions. Numerous strategies aiming at repairing the injured spinal cord have been studied. Among them, the use of bone marrow-derived mesenchymal stem cells (BMSCs) is promising. Indeed, these cells possess interesting properties to modulate CNS environment and allow axon regeneration and(More)
Axons undergo Wallerian degeneration distal to a point of injury. Experimental investigations have documented many of the cellular and molecular events that underlie this behaviour. Since relatively little is known about such events in human CNS pathologies and current experimental intervention strategies indicate the possibility of significant axon(More)
Early and robust invasion by macrophages may be one of the reasons why axonal regeneration is more effective in the PNS than in the CNS. Therefore, we have grafted autologous peritoneal macrophages labeled with fluorescent latex microspheres into spinal cord compression lesions. At various survival times, we have studied their effect on the expression of(More)
Cultured Schwann cells were transplanted at various delays into a spinal cord contusion injury performed at low thoracic level in adult female rats. The Schwann cells were purified from the dorsal root ganglia of adult syngeneic animals. the transplants were well tolerated, and the transplanted Schwann cells invaded the injured spinal cord. As quantified(More)
Ependymal cells located around the central canal of the adult spinal cord are considered as a source of neural stem cells (NSCs) and represent an interesting pool of endogenous stem cells for repair strategies. Physical exercise is known to increase ependymal cell proliferation, while improving functional recovery. In this work, we further characterized(More)