The Journal of neuroscience : the official journal of the Society for Neuroscience
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The transplantation of Schwann cells (SCs) holds considerable promise as a therapy for spinal cord injury, but the optimal source of these cells and the best timing for intervention remains debatable. Previously, we demonstrated that delayed transplantation of SCs generated from neonatal mouse skin-derived precursors (SKP-SCs) promoted repair and functional recovery in rats with thoracic contusions. Here, we conducted two experiments using neonatal rat cells and an incomplete cervical injury model to examine the efficacy of acute SKP-SC transplantation versus media control (Experiment 1) and versus nerve-derived SC or dermal fibroblast (Fibro) transplantation (Experiment 2). ⋯ Compared with media treatment, SKP-SC-transplanted rats showed enhanced rubrospinal tract (RST) sparing/plasticity in the gray matter (GM) rostral to injury, particularly in the absence of immunosuppression. The functional benefits of SC transplantations over fibroblast treatment correlated with the enhanced preservation of host tissue, reduced RST atrophy, and/or increased RST sparing/plasticity in the GM. In summary, our results indicate that: (1) early transplantation of neonatal SCs generated from skin or nerve promotes repair and functional recovery after incomplete cervical crush injury; (2) either of these cell types is preferable to Fibros for these purposes; and (3) age-matched SCs from these two sources do not differ in terms of their reparative effects or functional efficacy after transplantation into the injured cervical spinal cord.
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Striatal GABAergic interneurons that express the gene for tyrosine hydroxylase (TH) have been identified previously by several methods. Although generally assumed to be dopaminergic, possibly serving as a compensatory source of dopamine (DA) in Parkinson's disease, this assumption has never been tested directly. In TH-Cre mice whose nigrostriatal pathway had been eliminated unilaterally with 6-hydroxydopamine, we injected a Cre-dependent virus coding for channelrhodopsin-2 and enhanced yellow fluorescent protein unilaterally into the unlesioned midbrain or bilaterally into the striatum. ⋯ Fluorescence immunocytochemistry in enhanced green fluorescent protein (EGFP)-TH mice revealed colocalization of DA, l-amino acid decarboxylase, the DA transporter, and vesicular monoamine transporter-2 with EGFP in midbrain dopaminergic neurons but not in any of the striatal EGFP-TH interneurons. Optogenetic activation of striatal EGFP-TH interneurons produced strong GABAergic inhibition in all spiny neurons tested. These results indicate that striatal TH interneurons are not dopaminergic but rather are a type of GABAergic interneuron that expresses TH but none of the other enzymes or transporters necessary to operate as dopaminergic neurons and exert widespread GABAergic inhibition onto direct and indirect spiny neurons.
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Epidemiological studies have associated increased risk of Alzheimer's disease (AD)-related clinical symptoms with a medical history of head injury. Currently, little is known about pathophysiology mechanisms linked to this association. Persistent neuroinflammation is one outcome observed in patients after a single head injury. ⋯ The neuroinflammatory responses were more persistent in the injured KI mice, leading to a chronic neuroinflammation. At late time points after injury, KI mice exhibited a significant impairment in radial arm water maze performance compared with sham KI mice or injured wild-type mice. Intervention with a small-molecule experimental therapeutic (MW151) that selectively attenuates proinflammatory cytokine production yielded improved cognitive behavior outcomes, consistent with a link between neuroinflammatory responses and altered risk for AD-associated pathology changes with head injury.
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This study investigated the role of the complement activation fragment C5a in secondary pathology following contusive spinal cord injury (SCI). C5ar(-/-) mice, which lack the signaling receptor for C5a, displayed signs of improved locomotor recovery and reduced inflammation during the first week of SCI compared with wild-type mice. Intriguingly, the early signs of improved recovery in C5ar(-/-) mice deteriorated from day 14 onward, with absence of C5aR ultimately leading to poorer functional outcomes, larger lesion volumes, reduced myelin content, and more widespread inflammation at 35 d SCI. ⋯ Further experiments in bone marrow chimeric mice suggested that the dual and opposing roles of C5aR on SCI outcomes primarily relate to its expression on CNS-resident cells and not infiltrating leukocytes. Additional in vivo and in vitro studies provided direct evidence that C5aR signaling is required during the postacute phase for astrocyte hyperplasia, hypertrophy, and glial scar formation. Collectively, these findings highlight the complexity of the inflammatory response to SCI and emphasize the importance of optimizing the timing of therapeutic interventions.
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The mechanisms that lead to the maintenance of chronic pain states are poorly understood, but their elucidation could lead to new insights into how pain becomes chronic and how it can potentially be reversed. We investigated the role of spinal dorsal horn neurons and descending circuitry in plasticity mediating a transition to pathological pain plasticity suggesting the presence of a chronic pain state using hyperalgesic priming. We found that when dorsal horn neurokinin 1 receptor-positive neurons or descending serotonergic neurons were ablated before hyperalgesic priming, IL-6- and carrageenan-induced mechanical hypersensitivity was impaired, and subsequent prostaglandin E2 (PGE2) response was blunted. ⋯ Pharmacological antagonism of spinal dopamine D1/D5 receptors reversed priming, whereas D1/D5 agonists induced mechanical hypersensitivity exclusively in primed mice. Strikingly, engagement of D1/D5 coupled with anisomycin in primed animals reversed a chronic pain state, consistent with reconsolidation-like effects in the spinal dorsal horn. These findings demonstrate a novel role for descending dopaminergic neurons in the maintenance of pathological pain plasticity.