Article
Neurosciences
Ryan W. Castro, Mikayla C. Lopes, Lindsay M. De Biase, Gregorio Valdez
Summary: Microglia display region-dependent deleterious features with age and diseases in the brain, and it remains unclear if similar phenotypic heterogeneity exists in the spinal cord. The study shows that regardless of regional location, spinal cord microglia become increasingly activated during aging. However, microglia in the ventral horn lose spatial organization and aggregate around motor neurons, potentially affecting motor neuron function.
Article
Medicine, Research & Experimental
Gaetan Poulen, Emilie Aloy, Claire M. Bringuier, Nadine Mestre-Frances, Emaelle V. F. Artus, Maida Cardoso, Jean-Christophe Perez, Christophe Goze-Bac, Hassan Boukhaddaoui, Nicolas Lonjon, Yannick N. Gerber, Florence E. Perrin
Summary: By using the CSF1R inhibitor GW2580, transient reduction of microglia proliferation can improve motor function recovery in SCI patients. The treatment also helps reduce neuroinflammation and enhance tissue protection.
Article
Pharmacology & Pharmacy
Xuyang Hu, Jinxin Huang, Yiteng Li, Lei Dong, Yihao Chen, Fangru Ouyang, Jianjian Li, Ziyu Li, Juehua Jing, Li Cheng
Summary: This study demonstrated that TAZ is significantly upregulated and mainly expressed in microglia after spinal cord injury (SCI). It accumulates in the nuclei of microglia and promotes their migration, leading to the formation of microglial scars and functional recovery.
FRONTIERS IN PHARMACOLOGY
(2022)
Article
Plant Sciences
Tomoharu Kuboyama, Seiya Kominato, Misaki Nagumo, Chihiro Tohda
Summary: The study focused on evaluating herbal medicine constituents that induce M2 predominance for the treatment of SCI. Polygalae Radix (PR) was found to induce M2 predominance in microglia, improve motor function in SCI model mice, and showed potential for protecting against axonal degeneration in the injured spinal cord.
Review
Neurosciences
Soshi Samejima, Richard Henderson, Jared Pradarelli, Sarah E. Mondello, Chet T. Moritz
Summary: Spinal cord injuries often result in permanent physical impairments despite being incomplete disruptions. However, remaining connections between the brain and spinal cord can induce neural plasticity to improve sensorimotor function, even years post-injury. This review provides an overview of evidence for motor recovery, plasticity, and interventions in spinal cord stimulation for motor control restoration. It discusses both open-loop and closed-loop stimulation approaches, as well as mechanisms of spinal cord neuromodulation for sensorimotor recovery, aiming to advance rehabilitation for spinal cord injuries.
EXPERIMENTAL NEUROLOGY
(2022)
Article
Neurosciences
Rui Liu, Ying Li, Ziyue Wang, Peng Chen, Yi Xie, Wensheng Qu, Minghuan Wang, Zhiyuan Yu, Xiang Luo
Summary: After spinal cord injury (SCI), immune cells and proinflammatory cytokines infiltrate the spinal cord and disrupt the microenvironment, hindering axon regeneration and functional recovery. Previous studies have shown that regulatory T cells (Tregs) can enter the central nervous system and suppress microglia during conditions like multiple sclerosis and stroke. However, the interaction between Tregs and microglia and their role in modulating the injured microenvironment after SCI remains unknown.
CNS NEUROSCIENCE & THERAPEUTICS
(2023)
Review
Biochemistry & Molecular Biology
Sydney Brockie, James Hong, Michael G. Fehlings
Summary: Neuroinflammation plays a crucial role in the development of spinal cord injury, with microglia being key players in modulating the inflammatory response. Microglia interact with different cell types to facilitate injury response, but further research is needed to fully understand their mechanisms of action and spatial and temporal profiles.
INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF MOLECULAR SCIENCES
(2021)
Article
Neurosciences
Kathryn M. Madalena, Faith H. Brennan, Phillip G. Popovich
Summary: Glucocorticoid receptors in myeloid cells play a role in regulating inflammation and functional recovery after spinal cord injury. Contrary to expectations, deleting these receptors in mice actually reduced the macrophage response at the site of injury and improved hindlimb motor recovery, myelin and axon protection/regeneration, and microvascular plasticity.
EXPERIMENTAL NEUROLOGY
(2022)
Article
Engineering, Environmental
Zengjie Zhang, Xiaolei Zhang, Chenggui Wang, Wangsiyuan Teng, Hongyuan Xing, Fangqian Wang, Eloy Yinwang, Hangxiang Sun, Yan Wu, Chengcheng Yu, Xupeng Chai, Zhiyong Qian, Xiaohua Yu, Zhaoming Ye, Xiangyang Wang
Summary: Persistent inflammation during the secondary injury of spinal cord injury is identified as the main cause of poor regenerative capability of spinal cord. Extracellular vesicles derived from M2 microglia have shown therapeutic potential for inflammation alleviation and neural regeneration. However, their applications in spinal cord injury treatment are limited due to issues such as poor accumulation, short retention, and lack of controlled release. Therefore, a novel thermosensitive hydrogel system was developed to deliver M2 derived extracellular vesicles for spinal cord injury treatment. The hydrogel enabled effective retention and controlled release of the vesicles, resulting in improved motor nerve functional recovery. Mechanistic study revealed that the sustained release of the vesicles attenuated local inflammation and inhibited neuron apoptosis, thus protecting the spinal cord. This approach provides a microenvironment-responsive and noninvasive method to improve spinal cord injury therapy through both anti-inflammatory and neural protective mechanisms.
CHEMICAL ENGINEERING JOURNAL
(2022)
Article
Neurosciences
Xvlei Hu, Yifan Zhang, Lei Wang, Jiangwei Ding, Mei Li, Hailiang Li, Liang Wu, Zhong Zeng, Hechun Xia
Summary: This study found that microglia activation in the primary motor cortex (M1) after spinal cord injury (SCI) mediates chronic neuroinflammation and neuronal damage. The use of minocycline, a microglia inhibitor, can reduce inflammation-induced neuronal damage, protect the integrity of the motor conduction pathway, and promote motor function recovery.
FRONTIERS IN CELLULAR NEUROSCIENCE
(2022)
Article
Biochemistry & Molecular Biology
Jian Zhao, Ailang Pang, Saige Yin, Meifeng Yang, Xuemei Zhang, Rong Zhang, Jingfei Liu, Yuanqi Gu, Shanshan Li, Yan Hu, Yue Zhang, Yingchun Ba, Buliang Meng, Xinwang Yang
Summary: OM-LV20 promotes structural and functional recovery of spinal cord injury by increasing neuronal survival, enhancing BDNF and TrkB expression, and regulating oxidative stress balance.
BIOCHEMICAL AND BIOPHYSICAL RESEARCH COMMUNICATIONS
(2022)
Article
Neurosciences
Ramil Hakim, Vasilios Zachariadis, Sreenivasa Raghavan Sankavaram, Jinming Han, Robert A. Harris, Lou Brundin, Martin Enge, Mikael Svensson
Summary: This study used single-cell RNA sequencing to investigate the temporal dynamics of immune cells harvested from the epicenter of traumatic spinal cord injury (SCI) induced in female mice. It was found that baseline microglia undergo permanent transcriptional reprogramming into a previously uncharacterized subtype of microglia with similarities to disease-associated microglia (DAM) and a distinct microglial state found during development. Depletion of microglia showed that DAM in SCI are derived from baseline microglia and enhance recovery of hindlimb locomotor function following injury.
JOURNAL OF NEUROSCIENCE
(2021)
Article
Neurosciences
Wei-wei Deng, Guang-yan Wu, Ling-xia Min, Zhou Feng, Hui Chen, Ming-liang Tan, Jian-feng Sui, Hong-liang Liu, Jing-ming Hou
Summary: Activation of glutamate neurons in the primary motor cortex can significantly improve motor function scores in rats, shorten the incubation period of motor evoked potentials, and increase motor potentials' amplitude. Accurate activation of the primary motor cortex can effectively promote tissue recovery and neurofilament growth, while also increasing the content of some growth-related proteins at the injured site. These findings suggest that selective activation of glutamate neurons in the primary motor cortex may play a significant role in promoting functional recovery after SCI and understanding the neural cell mechanism involved in recovery induced by motor cortex stimulation.
FRONTIERS IN NEUROSCIENCE
(2021)
Review
Neurosciences
Giuliano Taccola, Ronaldo M. Ichiyama, V. Reggie Edgerton, Parag Gad
Summary: This review discusses the physiological states of spinal networks, highlighting the stochastic modulation by changing ensembles of proprioceptive and supraspinal input. Spinal epidural interfaces offer a platform for studying spinal network dynamics post-injury. Low-frequency epidural pulses can evoke motor responses with oscillatory patterns. The neural variability among spinal networks is seen as a fundamental mechanism of network design rather than noise interfering with movement control.
EXPERIMENTAL NEUROLOGY
(2022)
Article
Neurosciences
Tengli Huang, Junjie Shen, Bingbo Bao, Wencheng Hu, Yi Sun, Tianhao Zhu, Junqing Lin, Tao Gao, Xingwei Li, Xianyou Zheng
Summary: The mitochondrial-specific antioxidant MitoQ promotes functional recovery and tissue preservation through the enhancement of angiogenesis with the modification of mitochondrial function after spinal cord injury (SCI).