Connexin Signaling Is Involved in the Reactivation of a Latent Stem Cell Niche after Spinal Cord Injury.

The ependyma of the adult spinal cord is a latent stem cell niche that is reactivated by spinal cord injury contributing new cells to the glial scar. The cellular events taking place in the early stages of the reaction of the ependyma to injury remain little understood. Ependymal cells are functionally heterogeneous with a mitotically active subpopulation lining the lateral domains of the central canal (CC) that are coupled via gap junctions.

Gene Expression Profiling in the Injured Spinal Cord of : An Amniote with Self-Repair Capabilities.

Slider turtles are the only known amniotes with self-repair mechanisms of the spinal cord that lead to substantial functional recovery. Their strategic phylogenetic position makes them a relevant model to investigate the peculiar genetic programs that allow anatomical reconnection in some vertebrate groups but are absent in others. Here, we analyze the gene expression profile of the response to spinal cord injury (SCI) in the turtle .