Three-Dimensional Design and Implementation of a Dual Compartment Imaging Chamber to Assess Effects of Hypertonic Saline on Periaxonal Swelling and Axonal Spheroid Formation Following Cervical Contusive Spinal Cord Injury in Real Time.

Contusive and compressive spinal cord injury (SCI) induces pathological changes to spinal cord white matter (WM) including periaxonal swelling and resultant disruption of the axomyelinic interface, axonal swelling/spheroid formation, and secondary axonal transection. To further our knowledge of the role of vascular edema in these pathological changes to WM, we designed, and three-dimensional (3D) printed a dual-compartment imaging chamber separated by a semipermeable membrane to mimic and manipulate interstitial and vascular fluid compartments in real time. We hypothesized that hypertonic saline (HTS) applied to the "vascular" chamber would osmotically shift fluid out of the periaxonal space and preserve myelinated fibers after SCI.

Combined treatment targeting Ca2+ store mediated Ca2+ release and store-operated calcium entry reduces secondary axonal degeneration and improves functional outcome after SCI.

Store-operated calcium entry (SOCE) is crucial for cellular processes, including cellular calcium homeostasis and signaling. However, uncontrolled activation of SOCE is implicated in neurological disorders and CNS trauma, but underlying mechanisms remain unclear. We hypothesized that inhibiting SOCE enhances neurological recovery following contusive spinal cord injury (SCI).