Pten Deletion Promotes Regrowth of Corticospinal Tract Axons 1 Year after Spinal Cord Injury

K Du, etc
Journal of Neuroscience, 2015


Chronic spinal cord injury (SCI) is a formidable hurdle that prevents a large number of injured axons from crossing the lesion, particularly the corticospinal tract (CST). This study shows that Pten deletion in the adult mouse cortex enhances compensatory sprouting of uninjured CST axons. Furthermore, forced upregulation of mammalian target of rapamycin (mTOR) initiated either 1 month or 1 year after injury promoted regeneration of CST axons. Our results indicate that both developmental and injury-induced mTOR downregulation in corticospinal motor neurons can be reversed in adults. Modulating neuronal mTOR activity is a potential strategy for axon regeneration after chronic SCI.

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Journal
Journal of Neuroscience
Year
2015
Page
doi: 10.1523/JNEUROSCI.3637-14.2015
Institute
Hong Kong University of Science and Technology