Exploring the Role of Neuron-Glia Communication in PNS Regeneration

A multitude of evidence indicates that neuron-glia interactions in the peripheral nervous system (PNS) have a substantial impact on promoting axon regeneration. However, the precise mechanisms of communication between these cells and their contribution to axon regeneration in the PNS remain incompletely understood.We utilizedbioinformatictools such as CellChat and LIANA to analyze neuron-glia crosstalk signals during PNS regeneration. We found that neuron-glia communication post PNS injury is increased, proposing dorsal root ganglion(DRG) neurons and satellite glial cell (SGC) interactions are involved in axon regeneration and recovery. Additionally, SGCs are the biggest communicators with neurons during axon regeneration, suggesting they are a major player in axon regeneration. More specifically, ApoE-associated lipid signals comprise the majority of neuron-SGC communication signals; this suggests that ApoE-associated lipid signaling plays a pivotal and specific role in axon regeneration. Accordingly, we hypothesize that “ApoE-associated lipid talk” between SGCs and neurons play an important role in PNS axon regeneration post-injury. We will validate our hypothesis by obtaining satellite glial cell derived medium (SDM) and comparing axon length at several regeneration time points of injured DRG neurons placed in either SDMor control conditions.