Premium
False resurrections: Distinguishing regenerated from spared axons in the injured central nervous system
Author(s) -
Steward Oswald,
Zheng Binhai,
TessierLavigne Marc
Publication year - 2003
Publication title -
journal of comparative neurology
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.855
H-Index - 209
eISSN - 1096-9861
pISSN - 0021-9967
DOI - 10.1002/cne.10593
Subject(s) - regeneration (biology) , axon , neuroscience , central nervous system , lesion , nervous system , biology , spinal cord , axon guidance , anatomy , medicine , pathology , microbiology and biotechnology
Several recent studies report that axon regeneration can be induced in the mature mammalian nervous system by novel treatments or genetic manipulations. In assessing these reports, it is important to be mindful of the history of regeneration research, which is littered with the corpses of studies that reported regeneration that later proved incorrect. One important reason is the “spared axon conundrum,” in which axons that survive a lesion are mistakenly identified as having regenerated. Here, we illustrate the problem and propose criteria that may be used to identify regenerated vs. spared axons, focusing on the injured spinal cord. J. Comp. Neurol. 459:1–8, 2003. © 2003 Wiley‐Liss, Inc.