False resurrections: distinguishing regenerated from spared axons in the injured central nervous system.
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.
Steward
Oswald
O
Reeve-Irvine Research Center, University of California at Irvine College of Medicine, Departments of Anatomy and Neurobiology and Neurobiology and Behavior, Irvine, California 92697-4292, USA. osteward@uci.edu
Zheng
Binhai
B
Tessier-Lavigne
Marc
M
D000818:Animals; D001369:Axons / Q000502:physiology*; D002490:Central Nervous System / Q000293:injuries* / Q000502:physiology; D006801:Humans; D009416:Nerve Regeneration / Q000502:physiology*; D011712:Pyramidal Tracts / Q000502:physiology