Pigment Epithelium-Derived Factor Promotes Axon Regeneration and Functional Recovery After Spinal Cord Injury.
Andrew R StevensUmar AhmedVasanthy VigneswaraZubair AhmedPublished in: Molecular neurobiology (2019)
Although neurons in the adult mammalian CNS are inherently incapable of regeneration after injury, we previously showed that exogenous delivery of pigment epithelium-derived factor (PEDF), a 50-kDa neurotrophic factor (NTF), promoted adult retinal ganglion cell neuroprotection and axon regeneration. Here, we show that PEDF and other elements of the PEDF pathway are highly upregulated in dorsal root ganglion neurons (DRGN) from regenerating dorsal column (DC) injury paradigms when compared with non-regenerating DC injury models. Exogenous PEDF was neuroprotective to adult DRGN and disinhibited neurite outgrowth, whilst overexpression of PEDF after DC injury in vivo promoted significant DC axon regeneration with enhanced electrophysiological, sensory, and locomotor function. Our findings reveal that PEDF is a novel NTF for adult DRGN and may represent a therapeutically useful factor to promote functional recovery after spinal cord injury.
Keyphrases
- stem cells
- spinal cord
- dendritic cells
- neuropathic pain
- single cell
- spinal cord injury
- optic nerve
- childhood cancer
- brain injury
- wound healing
- cell therapy
- cell proliferation
- blood brain barrier
- gene expression
- cerebral ischemia
- dna methylation
- young adults
- high resolution
- subarachnoid hemorrhage
- optical coherence tomography
- liquid chromatography