Neurology Research

KEY FINDING: Conditional Sox9 knock-out mice expressed reduced levels of CSPG biosynthetic enzymes, CSPG core proteins, collagens, and Gfap in the injured spinal cord.

KEY FINDING: Persons with SCI report a consistent pattern of neuromuscular and autonomic hypersensitivity to classical serotonergic psychedelics, including intense muscle spasms, sweating, and tremors.

KEY FINDING: Stem cells expressing trimeric and full-length L1 are more efficient in promoting locomotor recovery compared to stem cells overexpressing only full-length L1 or the parental stem cells.

KEY FINDING: Injured sensory axons fail to regenerate into the spinal cord due to the DREZ.

KEY FINDING: ChABC treatment enables robust sprouting of intact CST fibers across the midline to innervate denervated grey matter territory in the brainstem and spinal cord.

KEY FINDING: Surgical techniques like decompression and stabilization are used to prevent further injury, but their effectiveness in restoring function remains controversial.

KEY FINDING: Addition of CSPGs to dorsal root ganglion (DRG) cultures resulted in a reduction of activated integrins and growth inhibition. By adding manganese to the cultures, both FAK phosphorylation and growth response was restored, indicating that integrin activation is sufficient to override the inhibitory effects of CSPGs.

KEY FINDING: ER stress-induced apoptosis is involved in the early stages of spinal cord injury in rats, indicated by increased levels of GRP78, CHOP, and caspase-12.

KEY FINDING: Androgens regulate BDNF and trkB expression (the receptor for BDNF) in spinal motoneurons, influencing their morphology.

KEY FINDING: Re-plated neurons extend axons quickly with reduced branching, mimicking the effects of a conditioning lesion.