Plasticity of Select Primary Afferent Projections to the Dorsal Horn after a Lumbosacral Ventral Root Avulsion Injury and Root Replantation in Rats.

Injuries to the conus medullaris and cauda equina portions of the spinal cord result in neurological impairments, including paralysis, autonomic dysfunction, and pain. In experimental studies, earlier investigations have shown that a lumbosacral ventral root avulsion (VRA) injury results in allodynia, which may be ameliorated by surgical replantation of the avulsed ventral roots. Here, we investigated the long-term effects of an L6 + S1 VRA injury on the plasticity of three populations of afferent projections to the dorsal horn in rats.

Minocycline protects motor but not autonomic neurons after cauda equina injury.

Conus medullaris/cauda equina injuries typically result in loss of bladder, bowel, and sexual functions, partly as a consequence of autonomic and motor neuron death. To mimic these injuries, we previously developed a rodent lumbosacral ventral root avulsion (VRA) injury model, where both autonomic and motor neurons progressively die over several weeks. Here, we investigate whether minocycline, an antibiotic with putative neuroprotective effects, may rescue degenerating autonomic and motor neurons after VRA injury.

Improved detection of fluorogold-labeled neurons in long-term studies.

Fluorogold (FG) is a widely used neuroanatomical tracer. However, because FG-labeled neurons become undetectable over time, its use has been limited in long-term studies. We investigated whether the detection of FG in retrogradely labeled neurons in long-term studies can be improved by immunohistochemistry (IHC) using an antibody to FG.

A dermal niche for multipotent adult skin-derived precursor cells.

A fundamental question in stem cell research is whether cultured multipotent adult stem cells represent endogenous multipotent precursor cells. Here we address this question, focusing on SKPs, a cultured adult stem cell from the dermis that generates both neural and mesodermal progeny. We show that SKPs derive from endogenous adult dermal precursors that exhibit properties similar to embryonic neural-crest stem cells.