Dr Ragnhildur Thora Karadottir

Interests

My lab’s interests are neurotransmitter signalling to oligodendrocytes and their progenitor cells, in both health and disease.

Oligodendrocytes produce myelin (in the CNS), which speeds the propagation of the action potential. When the myelin sheath is lost, in diseases like cerebral palsy, spinal cord injury and multiple sclerosis, it causes mental and physical disability. We study how oligodendrocytes respond to neurotransmitters released from axons, both in the normal brain and in pathological conditions.

Oligodendrocyte precursor cells (OPCs) comprise 5% of the cells in the adult brain, where they are the main proliferative cells present. They can generate both neurons and glial cells, making them an important stem cell population in the adult brain. I have shown that these cells fall into two classes, with distinct physiological properties. We study the role of the two classes of OPC, in both the normal brain and pathological conditions.

Myelinated axons in the cerebellum
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Research Focus

Equipment

Calcium imaging

Cell culture

Confocal microscopy

Electrophysiological recording techniques

Fluorescence microscopy

Immunohistochemistry

Whole cell patch clamp