The attenuation of ancestral pro-regenerative pathways may explain why humans do not efficiently regenerate damaged organs. Vertebrate lineages that exhibit robust regeneration, including the teleost zebrafish, provide insights into the maintenance of adult regenerative capacity. Using established models of spinal cord, heart, and retina regeneration, we discovered that zebrafish Treg-like (zTr...

Following a spinal injury, lampreys at first are paralyzed below the level of transection. However, they recover locomotion after several weeks, and this is accompanied by the regeneration of descending axons from the brain and the production of new neurons in the spinal cord. Here, we aimed to analyse the changes in the dopaminergic system of the sea lamprey after a complete spinal transection...

We are in an exciting time where, based on successfully established animal models, a partial repair of the damaged human CNS appears to be feasible. A paper in the present issue of Brain (Mackay-Sim et al., 2008) deals with the outcome after transplantation of olfactory ensheathing cells (OEC) in subjects with chronic spinal cord injury. An earlier report described the surgical and safety proce...

After traumatic damage of the brain or spinal cord, many surviving neurons are disconnected, and recovery of function is limited by poor axon regeneration. Recent data have suggested that poly ADP-ribosylation plays a role in limiting axonal regrowth such that inhibition of poly (ADP-ribose) polymerase (PARP) may have therapeutic efficacy for neurological recovery after trauma. Here, we tested ...

Transplants of cells obtained from the olfactory system are a potential treatment for spinal cord injury and a number of clinical trials are in progress. However, the extent to which transplants improve recovery of function remains unclear and there are contradictory reports on the extent to which they support axonal regeneration. Here, we have used anatomical and electrophysiological technique...

Mice lacking the axon guidance molecule EphA4 have been shown to exhibit extensive axonal regeneration and functional recovery following spinal cord injury. To assess mechanisms by which EphA4 may modify the response to neural injury a microarray was performed on spinal cord tissue from mice with spinal cord injury and sham injured controls. RNA was purified from spinal cords of adult EphA4 kno...

Myelin components that inhibit axonal regeneration are believed to contribute significantly to the lack of axonal regeneration noted in the adult central nervous system. Three proteins found in myelin, Nogo, myelin-associated glycoprotein, and oligodendrocyte-myelin glycoprotein, inhibit neurite outgrowth in vitro. All of these proteins interact with the same receptors, namely, the Nogo recepto...

Objectives To determine the molecular and cellular mechanisms of spinal cord regeneration in zebrafish. Materials and Methods Medical databases of PubMed and Scopus were searched with following key words: Zebrafish; spinal cord injuries; regeneration; recovery of function. The map of mechanisms was performed using Xmind software. Results Wnt/ß-catenin signaling, L1.1, L1.2, Major vault prot...

The tail of the Xenopus tadpole contains major axial structures, including a spinal cord, notochord and myotomes, and regenerates within 2 weeks following amputation. The tail regeneration in Xenopus can provide insights into the molecular basis of the regeneration mechanism. The regenerated tail has some differences from the normal tail, including an immature spinal cord and incomplete segment...

Traumatic spinal cord injury is one of the most common causes of disability in young adults. Restoring independent ambulation in such patients is considered one of the biggest challenges in regenerative medicine because repair of spinal cord injury involves the complex processes of axonal regeneration, remyelination, and formation of new synaptic connections. In this issue of the JCI, Abematsu ...