Our Research
The Kalinski lab focuses on unraveling the interaction between neurons, immune cells and glial cells. We aim to understand how each cell type interacts with another after traumatic injury, specifically peripheral nerve injury and spinal cord injury. Neurons are responsible for how we think, feel and move and following damage, only some neurons are able to repair themselves. Inflammation plays a major role in helping, or hurting the neurons ability to repair. Using mice as a model system we are able to ask questions about these interactions at both the cellular and molecular level. We use models of injury, primary cell culture, flow cytometry and advanced microscopy techniques as well as traditional wet bench techniques to answer these questions.
Research Projects
Axon Regeneration/Degeneration
In vivo study
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Neurons are highly compartmentalized cells- they have a cell body, dendrites and axons. The axons can span for centimeters in mice, making it a unique structure that has to function at times, independent from the cell body. Utilizing mouse models that control both regeneration and degeneration of axons after peripheral nerve injury, we ask how inflammation impairs or helps repair damage. We are aiming to identify and understand a spatial and temporal relationship between immune cells, both resident and infiltrating, and axons after injury. We want to understand this relationship both locally at the injury site, and at distal locations that might lead to changes in gene expression of neuronal cell bodies.
Immune Cell - Axon - Glial - Interactions
In vitro study
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Based on work from our regeneration/degeneration studies we want to isolate and control the interactions between immune cells, glial cells and neurons in a culture setting. These studies give us a better understanding of how each cell type might impact the intrinsic capacity of neurons to respond positively or negatively to stimuli, both physical and chemical. We use compartmentalized cell culture chambers to control variables and can measure neuronal responses with live cell imaging, or at protein and transcriptional levels.