Regulation of axonal regeneration after mammalian spinal cord injury
Abstract
One hundred years ago, Ramón y Cajal, considered by many as the founder of modern neuroscience, stated that neurons of the adult central nervous system (CNS) are incapable of regenerating. Yet, recent years have seen a tremendous expansion of knowledge in the molecular control of axon regeneration after CNS injury. We now understand that regeneration in the adult CNS is limited by (1) a failure to form cellular or molecular substrates for axon attachment and elongation through the lesion site; (2) environmental factors, including inhibitors of axon growth associated with myelin and the extracellular matrix; (3) astrocyte responses, which can both limit and support axon growth; and (4) intraneuronal mechanisms controlling the establishment of an active cellular growth programme. We discuss these topics together with newly emerging hypotheses, including the surprising finding from transcriptomic analyses of the corticospinal system in mice that neurons revert to an embryonic state after spinal cord injury, which can be sustained to promote regeneration with neural stem cell transplantation. These gains in knowledge are steadily advancing efforts to develop effective treatment strategies for spinal cord injury in humans.
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OMG is one of the three major myelin inhibitors that signal through neuronal receptors to reorganize the cytoskeleton and inhibit axon growth.
“OMG is one of the three major myelin inhibitors that signal through neuronal receptors to reorganize the cytoskeleton and inhibit axon growth [61].”
From CI-994 is a dual modulator of class I HDACs and Wnt/β-catenin signaling for the treatment of Alzheimer's disease (2026) · cites this paper as [61]
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- Authors
- Zheng, B., & Tuszynski, M. H.
- Affiliations
- University of California San Diego (US)
- Corresponding author
- Zheng, Binhai
- Tuszynski, Mark H.
- Venue
- Nature Reviews Molecular Cell Biology
- Published
- 2023-01-05
- Volume
- 24
- Issue
- 6
- Pages
- 396-413
- ISSN
- 1471-0072 (ISSN-L)
- 1471-0080
- OpenAlex
- W4313569219
- Cited by
- 328
- References
- 18
- Citations by year
- 2026: 97 · 2025: 120 · 2024: 80 · 2023: 31
- FWCI
- 12.63
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- closed
- Licence
- Locations
- Nature Reviews Molecular Cell Biology (publishedVersion)
- PubMed (publishedVersion)
- Funders
- U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs (I01 RX002483)
- National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke (R01NS054734, R01NS093055)
- Topics
- Life Sciences › Neuroscience › Cellular and Molecular Neuroscience › Nerve injury and regeneration
- Health Sciences › Medicine › Pathology and Forensic Medicine › Spinal Cord Injury Research
- Life Sciences › Neuroscience › Developmental Neuroscience › Neurogenesis and neuroplasticity mechanisms
- Keywords
- axon regeneration, spinal cord injury, central nervous system regeneration, myelin, extracellular matrix, astrocyte response, corticospinal system, transcriptomics, neural stem cell transplantation, functional recovery
- MeSH terms
- Animals, Axons, Humans, Mammals, Nerve Regeneration, Neurons, Spinal Cord Injuries, Mice
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