Motor neuron target selectivity and survival after prolonged axotomy.
Date
2013-01
Authors
Journal Title
Journal ISSN
Volume Title
Citation Stats
Attention Stats
Abstract
Purpose
After a cut peripheral nerve is repaired, motor neurons usually regenerate across the lesion site, however they often enter an inappropriate Schwann cell tube and may be directed to an inappropriate target organ such as skin, resulting in continued loss of function. In fact, only about 10% of adults who receive a peripheral nerve repair display full functional recovery. The reasons for this are many and complex, however one aspect is whether the motor neuron has undergone a prolonged period of axotomy prior to nerve repair. Previous studies have suggested a deleterious effect of prolonged axotomy.Methods
We examined the influence of prolonged axotomy on target selectivity using a cross-reinnervation model of rat obturator motor neurons regrowing into the distal femoral nerve, with its normal bifurcating pathways to muscle and skin.Results
Surprisingly, we found that a prolonged period of axotomy resulted in an increase in motor neuron regeneration accuracy. In addition, we found that regeneration accuracy could be increased even further by a simple surgical manipulation of the distal terminal nerve pathway to skin.Conclusions
These results suggest that under certain conditions prolonged axotomy may not be detrimental to the final accuracy of motor neuron regeneration and highlight that a simple manipulation of terminal nerve pathways may be one approach to increase such regeneration accuracy.Type
Department
Description
Provenance
Subjects
Citation
Permalink
Published Version (Please cite this version)
Publication Info
Robinson, Grant A, and Roger D Madison (2013). Motor neuron target selectivity and survival after prolonged axotomy. Restorative neurology and neuroscience, 31(4). pp. 451–460. 10.3233/rnn-120301 Retrieved from https://hdl.handle.net/10161/34003.
This is constructed from limited available data and may be imprecise. To cite this article, please review & use the official citation provided by the journal.
Collections
Scholars@Duke
Grant Alan Robinson
My research interests are in central and peripheral nervous system regeneration.
Roger D. Madison
Neuronal Plasticity: especially as related to the accuracy of peripheral nerve regeneration. My laboratory is currently involved in studying the efficacy of prosthetic "nerve guides" in rodents and non-human primates. The results suggest that such nerve guides can be as effective as a nerve graft to repair transected peripheral nerves. Limited clinical trials of the nerve guide prostheses are underway, in collaboration with a colleague in Denmark. The nerve regeneration work has more recently taken a molecular turn, and my laboratory is currently looking at the differential expression of genes that may underlie the accuracy of peripheral nerve regeneration. We have developed a double labeling technique which allows us to assess the accuracy of nerve regeneration at the single neuron level. We are finding that motor axons and sensory afferents to muscle display a greater than chance level to grow back to muscle as opposed to skin (ie. regeneration specificity). To identify genes and gene products that may be involved in this process, we are using classical subtractive hybridization, the PCR-based differential display of mRNAs, and amplified antisense RNA (aRNA) for Êexpression profilingË.
Unless otherwise indicated, scholarly articles published by Duke faculty members are made available here with a CC-BY-NC (Creative Commons Attribution Non-Commercial) license, as enabled by the Duke Open Access Policy. If you wish to use the materials in ways not already permitted under CC-BY-NC, please consult the copyright owner. Other materials are made available here through the author’s grant of a non-exclusive license to make their work openly accessible.