Adaptation of a cervical bilateral contusive spinal cord injury for study of skilled forelimb function.

We present an updated, clinically relevant model of moderately severe bilateral cervical level 6 contusive spinal cord injury (SCI) in the rat. This model is more clinically relevant than previous models due it its severity, yet animals readily survive the lesion. The C6 bilateral lesion is administered to Fischer 344 rats using the Infinite Horizons impactor adjusted to a 200 kdyne force with a 3.

Neural Stem Cells: Promoting Axonal Regeneration and Spinal Cord Connectivity.

Spinal cord injury (SCI) leads to irreversible functional impairment caused by neuronal loss and the disruption of neuronal connections across the injury site. While several experimental strategies have been used to minimize tissue damage and to enhance axonal growth and regeneration, the corticospinal projection, which is the most important voluntary motor system in humans, remains largely refractory to regenerative therapeutic interventions. To date, one of the most promising pre-clinical therapeutic strategies has been neural stem cell (NSC) therapy for SCI.

Opposing effects of Toll-like receptors 2 and 4 on synaptic stability in the spinal cord after peripheral nerve injury.

Background: Glial cells are involved in the synaptic elimination process that follows neuronal lesions, and are also responsible for mediating the interaction between the nervous and immune systems. Neurons and glial cells express Toll-like receptors (TLRs), which may affect the plasticity of the central nervous system (CNS). Because TLRs might also have non-immune functions in spinal-cord injury (SCI), we aimed to investigate the influence of TLR2 and TLR4 on synaptic plasticity and glial reactivity after peripheral nerve axotomy.

Granulocyte colony stimulating factor neuroprotective effects on spinal motoneurons after ventral root avulsion.

G-CSF is a glycoprotein commonly used to treat neutropenia. Recent studies have shown that the G-CSF receptor (G-CSF-R) is expressed by neurons in the central nervous system (CNS), and neuroprotective effects of G-CSF have been observed. In this study, the influence of G-CSF treatment on the glial reactivity and synaptic plasticity of spinal motoneurons in rats subjected to ventral root avulsion (VRA) was investigated.

Glatiramer acetate positively influences spinal motoneuron survival and synaptic plasticity after ventral root avulsion.

Avulsion of ventral roots induces degeneration of most axotomized motoneurons. At present there are no effective strategies to prevent such neuronal loss and to preserve the affected spinal circuits. Interestingly, changes in the spinal cord network also occur during the course of the experimental model of multiple sclerosis (experimental autoimmune encephalomyelitis-EAE).

Electrical stimulation based on chronaxie reduces atrogin-1 and myoD gene expressions in denervated rat muscle.

Denervation induces muscle fiber atrophy and changes in the gene expression rates of skeletal muscle. Electrical stimulation (ES) is a procedure generally used to treat denervated muscles in humans. This study evaluated the effect of ES based on chronaxie and rheobase on the expression of the myoD and atrogin-1 genes in denervated tibialis anterior (TA) muscle of Wistar rats.