Christian Selden is a rising junior majoring in neuroscience at Reed College and participated in the 2022 Biological Discovery in Woods Hole Research Experience for Undergraduates (REU) program at .
Every summer, the National Science Foundation funds research opportunities for undergraduate students to gain hands-on lab experience in their Research Experiences for Undergraduates (REU) program. The current REU program at the is celebrating its 11th year anniversary and is co-directed by Dr. Allen Mensinger and Dr. Veronica Acosta.
In the Echeverri lab, we study the amazing regeneration ability of axolotls (Ambystoma mexicanum), a salamander native to Mexico. Like very young children can (anecdotally) regenerate their fingers, axolotls can regenerate numerous body parts including the spinal cord, brain, heart, and limbs.
As an undergraduate researcher in the Echeverri lab, my goal is to understand how an axolotl regenerates to then apply this knowledge to conditions that affect the human spinal cord.
I find it fascinating to observe an axolotl repair its spinal cord under the microscope. In a complex yet beautiful way, new neuron cells of the brain and spinal cord regenerate across a highway of glial cells that help the neurons form new pathways. This process of repairing the spinal cord after an injury is a harmonious symphony starring genes as the instruments and glial cells—a cell type that helps neurons survive—as the conductor.
One of these gene instruments is LRRK2, which stands for Leucine Rich Repeat Kinase 2, and it is the subject of my research this summer.
Scientists have found a link between Parkinson's Disease and mutations in the LRRK2 gene, but are just starting to scratch the surface to understand how they're connected. In axolotls, we know even less about LRRK2, partly because the axolotl genome was only sequenced about four years ago.