TY - JOUR
T1 - Electrical stimulation promotes sensory neuron regeneration and growth-associated gene expression
AU - Geremia, Nicole M.
AU - Gordon, Tessa
AU - Brushart, Thomas M.
AU - Al-Majed, Abdulhakeem A.
AU - Verge, Valerie M.K.
N1 - Funding Information:
We are indebted to JM Johnston, S Bocking and N Tyreman for excellent technical and editorial assistance. This work was supported by grants to VMKV and TG from the Canadian Institutes of Health Research (CIHR), Neurotrauma Partners of Canada and Saskatchewan Regional Partnership Program. NMG is supported by a U.S. College of Medicine Graduate Scholarship. TMB is supported by NIH RO1 NS034484-07. TG is an Alberta Heritage Foundation for Medical Research (AHFMR) Scientist.
PY - 2007/6
Y1 - 2007/6
N2 - Brief electrical stimulation enhances the regenerative ability of axotomized motor [Nix, W.A., Hopf, H.C., 1983. Electrical stimulation of regenerating nerve and its effect on motor recovery. Brain Res. 272, 21-25; Al-Majed, A.A., Neumann, C.M., Brushart, T.M., Gordon, T., 2000. Brief electrical stimulation promotes the speed and accuracy of motor axonal regeneration. J. Neurosci. 20, 2602-2608] and sensory [Brushart, T.M., Jari, R., Verge, V., Rohde, C., Gordon, T., 2005. Electrical stimulation restores the specificity of sensory axon regeneration. Exp. Neurol. 194, 221-229] neurons. Here we examined the parameter of duration of stimulation on regenerative capacity, including the intrinsic growth programs, of sensory neurons. The effect of 20 Hz continuous electrical stimulation on the number of DRG sensory neurons that regenerate their axons was evaluated following transection and surgical repair of the femoral nerve trunk. Stimulation was applied proximal to the repair site for 1 h, 3 h, 1 day, 7 days or 14 days at the time of nerve repair. Following a 21-day regeneration period, DRG neurons that regenerated axons into the muscle and cutaneous sensory nerve branches were retrogradely identified. Stimulation of 1 h led to a significant increase in DRG neurons regenerating into cutaneous and muscle branches when compared to 0 h (sham) stimulation or longer periods of stimulation. Stimulation for 1 h also significantly increased the numbers of neurons that regenerated axons beyond the repair site 4 days after lesion and was correlated with a significant increase in expression of growth-associated protein 43 (GAP-43) mRNA in the regenerating neurons at 2 days post-repair. An additional indicator of heightened plasticity following 1 h stimulation was elevated expression of brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF). The effect of brief stimulation on enhancing sensory and motoneuron regeneration holds promise for inducing improved peripheral nerve repair in the clinical setting.
AB - Brief electrical stimulation enhances the regenerative ability of axotomized motor [Nix, W.A., Hopf, H.C., 1983. Electrical stimulation of regenerating nerve and its effect on motor recovery. Brain Res. 272, 21-25; Al-Majed, A.A., Neumann, C.M., Brushart, T.M., Gordon, T., 2000. Brief electrical stimulation promotes the speed and accuracy of motor axonal regeneration. J. Neurosci. 20, 2602-2608] and sensory [Brushart, T.M., Jari, R., Verge, V., Rohde, C., Gordon, T., 2005. Electrical stimulation restores the specificity of sensory axon regeneration. Exp. Neurol. 194, 221-229] neurons. Here we examined the parameter of duration of stimulation on regenerative capacity, including the intrinsic growth programs, of sensory neurons. The effect of 20 Hz continuous electrical stimulation on the number of DRG sensory neurons that regenerate their axons was evaluated following transection and surgical repair of the femoral nerve trunk. Stimulation was applied proximal to the repair site for 1 h, 3 h, 1 day, 7 days or 14 days at the time of nerve repair. Following a 21-day regeneration period, DRG neurons that regenerated axons into the muscle and cutaneous sensory nerve branches were retrogradely identified. Stimulation of 1 h led to a significant increase in DRG neurons regenerating into cutaneous and muscle branches when compared to 0 h (sham) stimulation or longer periods of stimulation. Stimulation for 1 h also significantly increased the numbers of neurons that regenerated axons beyond the repair site 4 days after lesion and was correlated with a significant increase in expression of growth-associated protein 43 (GAP-43) mRNA in the regenerating neurons at 2 days post-repair. An additional indicator of heightened plasticity following 1 h stimulation was elevated expression of brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF). The effect of brief stimulation on enhancing sensory and motoneuron regeneration holds promise for inducing improved peripheral nerve repair in the clinical setting.
KW - Electrical stimulation
KW - Injury
KW - Neurotrophin
KW - Peripheral nerve
KW - Plasticity
KW - Regeneration
KW - Sensory neuron
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U2 - 10.1016/j.expneurol.2007.01.040
DO - 10.1016/j.expneurol.2007.01.040
M3 - Article
C2 - 17428474
AN - SCOPUS:34248647603
SN - 0014-4886
VL - 205
SP - 347
EP - 359
JO - Experimental Neurology
JF - Experimental Neurology
IS - 2
ER -