My current research interests involve the effects of immune system signaling molecules, cytokines, on brain astrocytes. Astrocytes are known to participate in a number of vital processes in the brain including ion and neurotransmitter regulation, the direction of synapse formation, and the formation of the blood-brain barrier. The activation of astrocytes, a state referred to as astrogliosis, has been implicated in both repair processes, and neuronal death in diseases of a neurodegenerative nature.
Inflammatory cytokines are know to induce astrogliosis.
They are also capable of synthesizing and secreting cytokines under certain stimulus conditions. Our research is conducted using a cultured rat astrocyte tumor cell line, the C6 glioma cell.