TY - JOUR
T1 - Current Advancements in Spinal Cord Injury Research—Glial Scar Formation and Neural Regeneration
AU - Clifford, Tanner
AU - Finkel, Zachary
AU - Rodriguez, Brianna
AU - Joseph, Adelina
AU - Cai, Li
N1 - Publisher Copyright:
© 2023 by the authors.
PY - 2023/3
Y1 - 2023/3
N2 - Spinal cord injury (SCI) is a complex tissue injury resulting in permanent and degenerating damage to the central nervous system (CNS). Detrimental cellular processes occur after SCI, including axonal degeneration, neuronal loss, neuroinflammation, reactive gliosis, and scar formation. The glial scar border forms to segregate the neural lesion and isolate spreading inflammation, reactive oxygen species, and excitotoxicity at the injury epicenter to preserve surrounding healthy tissue. The scar border is a physicochemical barrier composed of elongated astrocytes, fibroblasts, and microglia secreting chondroitin sulfate proteoglycans, collogen, and the dense extra-cellular matrix. While this physiological response preserves viable neural tissue, it is also detrimental to regeneration. To overcome negative outcomes associated with scar formation, therapeutic strategies have been developed: the prevention of scar formation, the resolution of the developed scar, cell transplantation into the lesion, and endogenous cell reprogramming. This review focuses on cellular/molecular aspects of glial scar formation, and discusses advantages and disadvantages of strategies to promote regeneration after SCI.
AB - Spinal cord injury (SCI) is a complex tissue injury resulting in permanent and degenerating damage to the central nervous system (CNS). Detrimental cellular processes occur after SCI, including axonal degeneration, neuronal loss, neuroinflammation, reactive gliosis, and scar formation. The glial scar border forms to segregate the neural lesion and isolate spreading inflammation, reactive oxygen species, and excitotoxicity at the injury epicenter to preserve surrounding healthy tissue. The scar border is a physicochemical barrier composed of elongated astrocytes, fibroblasts, and microglia secreting chondroitin sulfate proteoglycans, collogen, and the dense extra-cellular matrix. While this physiological response preserves viable neural tissue, it is also detrimental to regeneration. To overcome negative outcomes associated with scar formation, therapeutic strategies have been developed: the prevention of scar formation, the resolution of the developed scar, cell transplantation into the lesion, and endogenous cell reprogramming. This review focuses on cellular/molecular aspects of glial scar formation, and discusses advantages and disadvantages of strategies to promote regeneration after SCI.
KW - cell reprogramming
KW - cell transplantation
KW - glial scar formation
KW - neural regeneration
KW - neural stem progenitor cells
KW - spinal cord
KW - therapy
KW - traumatic injury
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U2 - 10.3390/cells12060853
DO - 10.3390/cells12060853
M3 - Review article
C2 - 36980193
AN - SCOPUS:85151108713
SN - 2073-4409
VL - 12
JO - Cells
JF - Cells
IS - 6
M1 - 853
ER -