RESUMO
After an incomplete spinal cord injury (SCI), partial recovery of locomotion is accomplished with time. Previous studies have established a functional link between extension of axon collaterals from spared spinal tracts and locomotor recovery after SCI, but the tissular signals triggering collateral sprouting have not been identified. Here, we investigated whether axonal degeneration after SCI contributes to the sprouting of collaterals from axons spared after injury. To this end, we evaluated collateral sprouting from BDA-labeled uninjured corticospinal axons after spinal cord hemisection (SCI(H)) in wild type (WT) mouse and Wld(S) mouse strains, which shows a significant delay in Wallerian degeneration after injury. After SCI(H), spared fibers of WT mice extend collateral sprouts to both intact and denervated sides of the spinal cord distant from the injury site. On the contrary, in the Wld(S) mice collateral sprouting from spared fibers was greatly reduced after SCI(H). Consistent with a role for collateral sprouting in functional recovery after SCI, locomotor recovery after SCI(H) was impaired in Wld(S) mice compared to WT animals. In conclusion, our results identify axonal degeneration as one of the triggers for collateral sprouting from the contralesional uninjured fibers after an SCI(H). These results open the path for identifying molecular signals associated with tissular changes after SCI that promotes collateral sprouting and functional recovery.
Assuntos
Regeneração Nervosa/fisiologia , Tratos Piramidais/patologia , Traumatismos da Medula Espinal/genética , Traumatismos da Medula Espinal/patologia , Degeneração Walleriana/etiologia , Animais , Axônios/patologia , Axônios/ultraestrutura , Células Cultivadas , Modelos Animais de Doenças , Feminino , Gânglios Espinais/citologia , Masculino , Camundongos , Camundongos Endogâmicos C57BL , Camundongos Transgênicos , Proteínas Associadas aos Microtúbulos/metabolismo , Atividade Motora/genética , Atividade Motora/fisiologia , Mutação/genética , Regeneração Nervosa/genética , Proteínas do Tecido Nervoso/genética , Neurônios/metabolismo , Neurônios/ultraestrutura , Desempenho Psicomotor/fisiologia , Traumatismos da Medula Espinal/fisiopatologia , Fatores de Tempo , Degeneração Walleriana/genéticaRESUMO
Spinal cord injury (SCI) is a major cause of paralysis, and involves multiple cellular and tissular responses including demyelination, inflammation, cell death and axonal degeneration. Recent evidence suggests that perturbation on the homeostasis of the endoplasmic reticulum (ER) is observed in different SCI models; however, the functional contribution of this pathway to this pathology is not known. Here we demonstrate that SCI triggers a fast ER stress reaction (1-3 h) involving the upregulation of key components of the unfolded protein response (UPR), a process that propagates through the spinal cord. Ablation of X-box-binding protein 1 (XBP1) or activating transcription factor 4 (ATF4) expression, two major UPR transcription factors, leads to a reduced locomotor recovery after experimental SCI. The effects of UPR inactivation were associated with a significant increase in the number of damaged axons and reduced amount of oligodendrocytes surrounding the injury zone. In addition, altered microglial activation and pro-inflammatory cytokine expression were observed in ATF4 deficient mice after SCI. Local expression of active XBP1 into the spinal cord using adeno-associated viruses enhanced locomotor recovery after SCI, and was associated with an increased number of oligodendrocytes. Altogether, our results demonstrate a functional role of the UPR in SCI, offering novel therapeutic targets to treat this invalidating condition.
