Spinal cord motor neuron plasticity accompanies second-degree burn injury and chronic pain

Physiological Reports, 2019 · DOI: 10.14814/phy2.14288 · Published: January 1, 2019

Simple Explanation

Burn injuries can lead to chronic pain and other sensory issues. This study looked at how burn injuries change the structure of motor neurons in the spinal cord. Researchers found that burn injuries increased the number of dendritic spines on motor neurons. These spines are important for communication between neurons. A drug that blocks Pak1, a protein involved in spine growth, reduced the number of spines. This suggests that Pak1 could be a target for treating pain after burn injuries.

Study Duration

Not specified

Participants

28 adult mice (male/female equal mix; C57Bl6; 25 ± 1.8 g; Harlan)

Evidence Level

Level III, Retrospective study

Key Findings

1
Second-degree burn injury significantly affects motor neuron structure within the spinal cord, specifically increasing dendritic spine density.
2
Pak1-inhibitor treatment (romidepsin) reduced injury-induced changes in dendritic spine density to levels similar to animals without burn injury.
3
The effectiveness of the Pak1-inhibitor was durable, since normalized dendritic spine profiles remained as long as 4 days despite drug withdrawal.

Research Summary

This study demonstrates that dendritic spine dysgenesis occurs in ventral horn motor neurons following burn injury, suggesting motor neuron synaptic plasticity. Romidepsin, a Pak1-inhibitor, restored dendritic spine profiles in motor neurons to levels similar to uninjured Sham animals, and this effect was durable even after drug withdrawal. The spatial distribution analysis showed that dendritic spines exhibited the most dynamic plasticity along proximal dendritic branch regions from the soma.

Practical Implications

Therapeutic Target

Pak1 signaling pathway may be a potential therapeutic target for treating neuropathic pain and motor dysfunction associated with burn injuries.

Biomarker Potential

Dendritic spine profiling could be a prognostic tool for therapeutic response in burn injury patients.

Drug Development

Further research is warranted to develop more effective and targeted therapies that address the structural reorganization of spinal cord motor neurons following traumatic injury.

Study Limitations

1
The study did not perform any motor functional studies, so functional implications of dendritic spine remodeling on motor neurons are speculative.
2
The study cannot rule out the possibility of an effect of romidepsin in the PNS, which may indirectly affect dendritic spine observations in spinal motor neurons.
3
The sample sizes for some treatment groups were small, which might limit the statistical power for some comparisons.

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