98%
921
2 minutes
20
Study Design: Histologic and immunohistochemical studies after targeted retrograde adenovirus (AdV)-mediated brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF) gene delivery via intramuscular injection in rats with injured spinal cord.
Objective: To investigate the neuroprotective effect of targeted retrograde AdV-BDNF gene transfection in the traumatically injured spinal cord in terms of prevention of apoptosis of neurons and oligodendrocytes.
Summary Of Background Data: Several studies investigated the neuroprotective effects of neurotrophins including BDNF on spinal cord injury, with respect to prevention of neural cell apoptosis in injured spinal cord. However, no report has described the potential effect of targeted retrograde neurotrophic factor gene delivery in injured spinal cord on prevention of neural cell apoptosis.
Methods: AdV-BDNF or AdV-LacZ was used for retrograde delivery via bilateral sternomastoid muscles to the spinal accessory motoneurons immediately after spinal cord injury in rats. Localization of beta-galactosidase expression produced by LacZ gene or AdV-BDNF gene transfection was examined by immunofluorescence staining and double staining of cell markers (NeuN, RIP, GFAP, OX-42, and NG2) in the injured spinal cord. TUNEL-positive cells were counted and immunoreactivity to active caspase-3 and NG2 was examined after gene injection.
Results: Retrograde delivery of LacZ marker gene was identified in cervical spinal neurons and glial cells including oligodendrocytes in the white matter.AdV-BDNF transfection resulted in a significant decrease in the number of TUNEL-positive apoptotic cells by downregulating the caspase apoptotic pathway, with significant promotion of NG2 expression in injured spinal cord, compared with AdV-LacZ injection.
Conclusion: Our results suggest that targeted retrograde BDNF gene delivery suppresses apoptosis of neurons and oligodendrocytes in the injured rat spinal cord.
Download full-text PDF |
Source |
---|---|
http://dx.doi.org/10.1097/BRS.0b013e3181b8e89b | DOI Listing |
Eur Spine J
September 2025
Department of Spine Surgery, Third Affiliated Hospital of Sun Yat-sen University, Guangzhou, China.
Purpose: This study aimed to investigate the relationship between tissue bridges and bladder and bowel outcomes in chronic cervical spinal cord injury (SCI).
Methods: Between July 2020 and January 2024, 44 patients with chronic cervical SCI were retrospectively included in this cross-sectional study at a specialized SCI center. Lesion severity was assessed by tissue bridges, lesion length, lesion width, and lesion area.
Signal Transduct Target Ther
September 2025
Spine & Spinal Cord Institute, Department of Neurosurgery, College of Medicine, Yonsei University, Seoul, Republic of Korea.
Neuroregeneration and remyelination rarely occur in the adult mammalian brain and spinal cord following central nervous system (CNS) injury. The glial scar has been proposed as a major contributor to this failure in the regenerative process. However, its underlying molecular and cellular mechanisms remain unclear.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFJ Anat
September 2025
Department of Anatomy and Cell Biology, Hyogo Medical University School of Medicine, Nishinomiya, Hyogo, Japan.
The white matter of the spinal cord is essential for sensory and motor signaling, and its proper development is crucial for establishing functional neuronal circuits. However, the mechanisms underlying white matter formation remain incompletely understood. We hypothesized that the extracellular matrix, particularly laminins, plays a key role in this process.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFRespir Physiol Neurobiol
September 2025
Department of Pediatrics, School of Medicine, Duke University.
Pompe disease is an autosomal recessive neuromuscular disorder characterized by a deficiency of acid α-glucosidase (GAA), an enzyme responsible for lysosomal glycogen degradation in all cells. Respiratory distress is a common symptom among patients with Pompe disease resulting from weakness of primary respiratory neuromuscular units of the diaphragm and genioglossus and the motor neurons which innervate them. The only FDA approved treatment is enzyme replacement therapy (ERT) of recombinant human GAA (rhGAA) which slows the decline of motor function and extends life expectancy.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFBiochem Biophys Res Commun
August 2025
Department of othopaedics, Tianjin Medical University General Hospital, 154 Anshan Road, Heping District, Tianjin, 300052, China; International Science and Technology Cooperation Base of Spinal Cord Injury, Tianjin Key Laboratory of Spine and Spinal Cord Injury, Department of Orthopedics, Tianjin Me
Programmed cell death (PCD), which describes cell death regulated by a sequence of gene expression events, strongly impacts the prognosis of spinal cord injury (SCI). Nevertheless, the connections between the various PCD types and the cross-linked genes regulate that these types of cell death in SCI remain unclear. This study sought to identify and investigate the key genes connections that regulated PCD in SCI.
View Article and Find Full Text PDF