OBJECTIVE The lack of meaningful axon regeneration after central nervous system damage and poor functional recovery after serious peripheral nervous system nerve injuries have been long-standing problems of substantial interest to both neurosurgeons and neurobiologists. As an alternative to strategies that seek to promote the regeneration of adult axons, our research group has taken advantage o...

Axon regeneration is crucial for recovery after trauma to the nervous system. For neurons to recover from complete axon removal they must respecify a dendrite as an axon: a complete reversal of polarity. We show that Drosophila neurons in vivo can convert a dendrite to a regenerating axon and that this process involves rebuilding the entire neuronal microtubule cytoskeleton. Two major microtubu...

Although neuronal regeneration is a highly energy-demanding process, axonal mitochondrial transport progressively declines with maturation. Mature neurons typically fail to regenerate after injury, thus raising a fundamental question as to whether mitochondrial transport is necessary to meet enhanced metabolic requirements during regeneration. Here, we reveal that reduced mitochondrial motility...

We investigated the relationship between slow axonal transport and axonal regeneration in the rat dorsal root ganglion (DRG) cell. The DRG cell sends out a single axon which bifurcates within the ganglion; one axon proceeds centrally into the spinal cord and the other proceeds peripherally. The rate of axonal regeneration is approximately 2 times faster for the peripheral processes (4.6 +/- 0.9...

The failure of regeneration of severed axons in the adult mammalian central nervous system is thought to be due partly to the presence of endogenous inhibitors of axon regeneration. The nogo gene encodes three proteins (Nogo-A, -B, and -C) that have been proposed to contribute to this inhibition. To determine whether deletion of nogo enhances regenerative ability, we generated two lines of muta...

Spinal cord injury is a devastating disease which disrupts the connections between the brain and spinal cord, often resulting in the loss of sensory and motor function below the lesion site. Most injured neurons fail to regenerate in the central nervous system after injury. Multiple intrinsic and extrinsic factors contribute to the general failure of axonal regeneration after injury. MicroRNAs ...

Enhancing the regeneration of axons is often considered to be a therapeutic target for improving functional recovery after peripheral nerve injury. In this review, the evidence for the efficacy of electrical stimulation (ES), daily exercise and their combination in promoting nerve regeneration after peripheral nerve injuries in both animal models and in human patients is explored. The rationale...

Ideal strategies to ameliorate CNS damage should promote both neuronal survival and axon regeneration. The receptor Neogenin promotes neuronal apoptosis. Its ligand prevents death, but the resulting repulsive guidance molecule a (RGMa)-Neogenin interaction also inhibits axonal growth, countering any prosurvival benefits. Here, we explore strategies to inhibit Neogenin, thus simultaneously enhan...