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Full-Text Articles in Medicine and Health Sciences
Selecting Optimal Combinations Of Transcription Factors To Promote Axon Regeneration: Why Mechanisms Matter, Ishwariya Venkatesh, Murray G. Blackmore
Selecting Optimal Combinations Of Transcription Factors To Promote Axon Regeneration: Why Mechanisms Matter, Ishwariya Venkatesh, Murray G. Blackmore
Biomedical Sciences Faculty Research and Publications
Recovery from injuries to the central nervous system, including spinal cord injury, is constrained in part by the intrinsically low ability of many CNS neurons to mount an effective regenerative growth response. To improve outcomes, it is essential to understand and ultimately reverse these neuron-intrinsic constraints. Genetic manipulation of key transcription factors (TFs), which act to orchestrate production of multiple regeneration-associated genes, has emerged as a promising strategy. It is likely that no single TF will be sufficient to fully restore neuron-intrinsic growth potential, and that multiple, functionally interacting factors will be needed. An extensive literature, mostly from non-neural cell …
Optogenetic Interrogation Of Functional Synapse Formation By Corticospinal Tract Axons In The Injured Spinal Cord, Naveen Jayaprakash, Zimei Wang, Brian Hoeynck, Nicholas Krueger, Audra A. Kramer, Eric Balle, Daniel S. Wheeler, Robert A. Wheeler, Murray G. Blackmore
Optogenetic Interrogation Of Functional Synapse Formation By Corticospinal Tract Axons In The Injured Spinal Cord, Naveen Jayaprakash, Zimei Wang, Brian Hoeynck, Nicholas Krueger, Audra A. Kramer, Eric Balle, Daniel S. Wheeler, Robert A. Wheeler, Murray G. Blackmore
Biomedical Sciences Faculty Research and Publications
To restore function after injury to the CNS, axons must be stimulated to extend into denervated territory and, critically, must form functional synapses with appropriate targets. We showed previously that forced overexpression of the transcription factor Sox11 increases axon growth by corticospinal tract (CST) neurons after spinal injury. However, behavioral outcomes were not improved, raising the question of whether the newly sprouted axons are able to form functional synapses. Here we developed an optogenetic strategy, paired with single-unit extracellular recordings, to assess the ability of Sox11-stimulated CST axons to functionally integrate in the circuitry of the cervical spinal cord. Initial …