Axon degeneration during development is required to sculpt a functional nervous system and is also a hallmark of pathological insult, such as injury [1, 2]. Despite similar morphological characteristics, very little overlap in molecular mechanisms has been reported between pathological and developmental degeneration [3-5]. In the peripheral nervous system (PNS), developmental axon pruning relie...

Local axon degeneration is a common pathological feature of many neurodegenerative diseases and peripheral neuropathies. While it is believed to operate with an apoptosis-independent molecular program, the underlying molecular mechanisms are largely unknown. In this study, we used the degeneration of transected axons, termed "Wallerian degeneration," as a model to examine the possible involveme...

PURPOSE To describe the MR manifestations and temporal course of wallerian degeneration that occurs above and below a spinal cord injury, and to compare the MR findings with postmortem histopathology. METHOD Twenty-four postmortem spinal cords from patients with cervical (n = 14), thoracic (n = 6), and lumbar (n = 4) cord injuries were studied with axial T1- and T2-weighted spin-echo MR imagi...

BACKGROUND Although diffusion tensor imaging has been used to monitor Wallerian degeneration, the exact relationship between the evolution of diffusion indices and its underlying pathology, especially in central nervous system, remains largely unknown. Here we aimed to address this question using a cat Wallerian degeneration model of corticospinal tract. METHODOLOGY/PRINCIPAL FINDINGS Twenty-...

Macrophages have been implicated in peripheral nerve regeneration for some time, supposedly through their involvement in Wallerian degeneration, the process by which the distal nerve degenerates after axotomy and is cleared by phagocytosis. Thus, in several studies in which macrophage accumulation in the distal nerve was reduced and Wallerian degeneration inhibited, regeneration was delayed. Ho...

Nerve distal axon injury-induced Wallerian degeneration is significantly delayed in Wallerian degeneration slow (Wld(s)) mutant mice, although the associated mechanisms are not completely clear and the role of Wld(s) in retinal ganglion cell (RGC) body damage is not fully understood. In the present study, a Wallerian degeneration model was established in wild-type (WT) and Wld(s) mutant mice by...

Wallerian degeneration and dying-back pathology are two well-known cellular pathways capable of regulating the breakdown and loss of axonal and synaptic compartments of neurons in vivo. However, the underlying mechanisms and molecular triggers of these pathways remain elusive. Here, we show that loss of translation elongation factor eEF1A2 expression in lower motor neurons and skeletal muscle f...