• Yongzhi Xia, Yi Yan, Haijian Xia, Tianzhi Zhao, Weihua Chu, Shengli Hu, Hua Feng, and Jiangkai Lin.
• Department of Neurosurgery, The First Affiliated Hospital of Chongqing Medical University, Chongqing 400016, China.
• Neurosci. Lett. 2015 Mar 17; 590: 74-9.

AbstractThe formation of glial scar restricts axon regeneration after spinal cord injury (SCI) in adult mammalian. Chondroitin sulfate proteoglycans (CSPGs) are mostly secreted by reactive astrocytes, which form dense scar tissues after SCI. Chondroitinase ABC (ChABC), which can digest CSPGs, is a promising therapeutic strategy for SCI. However, to date ChABC has exhibited only limited success in the treatment of chronic SCI. The intermediate filament protein vimentin underpins the cytoskeleton of reactive astrocytes. We targeted glial scar in injured spinal cord by sustained infusion of ChABC and antisense vimentin cDNA. Using anterograde tracing, BBB scoring and hind limb placing response, we found that this combined treatment promoted axon regeneration and functional recovery after SCI in rats. Our results indicate that axon regeneration may be promoted by modified physical and biochemical characteristics of intra- and extracellular architecture in glial scar tissues. Theses findings could potentially help us to understand better the composition of glial scar in central nervous system injury.Copyright © 2015 Elsevier Ireland Ltd. All rights reserved.

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