Innovation in Peripheral Nerve Regeneration—Clinical Applications

A special issue of Brain Sciences (ISSN 2076-3425).

Deadline for manuscript submissions: closed (15 April 2018) | Viewed by 5552

Special Issue Editor


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Guest Editor
Neurosurgery Department of Neurological Surgery Washington University School of Medicine 660 South Euclid, Box 8057 St. Louis, MO 63110, USA
Interests: spinal oncology; metastatic spine disease; spinal cord injury; cervical myelopathy; complex cervical; reconstruction; degenerative cervical spine disease; minimally invasive lumbar spine surgery; peripheral nerve tumors; brachial plexus injuries; peripheral nerve injuries; nerve transfers for spinal cord injury

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

Peripheral nerve injuries are a significant public health problem. Unfortunately, despite aggressive contemporary surgical management, recovery is often suboptimal. Clinical innovation, along with more widespread utilization of nerve transfers, have improved patient outcomes. Mechanisms to further improve clinical recovery remains at the forefront of peripheral nerve research. Work is underway investigating the use of exogenous growth factors, transient immunosuppression, and electrical stimulation. While these techniques have demonstrated tangible benefits, their practical widespread clinical application has not yet been realized. Translating the aggregate of exciting work being done in the lab will, no doubt, lead to the next paradigm shift in nerve regeneration and improved patient outcomes.

In this Special Issue, we will highlight advances in peripheral regeneration, focusing on bench to bedside techniques. We hope to include the spectrum of all innovative work being done—both clinical and basic science.

Dr. Wilson Zachary Ray
Guest Editor

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Keywords

  • Axonal regeneration
  • Nerve transfers
  • Functional recovery

Published Papers (1 paper)

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11 pages, 4427 KiB  
Article
Chemogenetic Enhancement of Axon Regeneration Following Peripheral Nerve Injury in the SLICK-A Mouse
by Poonam B. Jaiswal, Olivia C. Mistretta, Patricia J. Ward and Arthur W. English
Brain Sci. 2018, 8(5), 93; https://doi.org/10.3390/brainsci8050093 - 22 May 2018
Cited by 17 | Viewed by 5175
Abstract
The effects of chemogenetics on axon regeneration following peripheral nerve transection and repair were studied in mice expressing a Cre-dependent excitatory designer receptor exclusively activated by designer drugs (DREADD) and Cre-recombinase/yellow fluorescent protein (YFP) in a subset of motor and sensory neurons and [...] Read more.
The effects of chemogenetics on axon regeneration following peripheral nerve transection and repair were studied in mice expressing a Cre-dependent excitatory designer receptor exclusively activated by designer drugs (DREADD) and Cre-recombinase/yellow fluorescent protein (YFP) in a subset of motor and sensory neurons and cortical motoneurons (SLICK-A). Sciatic nerves were cut and repaired and mice were treated either once, at the time of injury, or five days per week for two weeks with clozapine N-oxide (CNO) (1 mg/kg, i.p.), or were untreated controls. Two weeks after injury, the lengths of YFP+ axon profiles were measured in nerves harvested from euthanized animals. Compared to untreated controls, regenerating axon lengths were not significantly longer in mice treated only once with CNO, but they were more than three times longer in mice receiving CNO repeatedly. Based on results of retrograde labeling experiments, axons of more sensory and motor neurons had regenerated successfully in mice receiving multiple CNO treatments than animals receiving only one treatment or no treatments. The increase in numbers of labeled sensory, but not motor neurons could be accounted for by increases in the proportion of retrogradely labeled neurons also expressing the DREADD. Chemogenetic increases in neuronal excitability represent a potent and innovative treatment to promote peripheral nerve regeneration. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Innovation in Peripheral Nerve Regeneration—Clinical Applications)
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