title: Pten Deletion Promotes Regrowth of Corticospinal Tract Axons 1 Year after Spinal Cord Injury.
abstract: Chronic spinal cord injury (SCI) is a formidable hurdle that prevents a large number of injured axons from crossing the lesion, particularly the corticospinal tract (CST). This study shows that Pten deletion in the adult mouse cortex enhances compensatory sprouting of uninjured CST axons. Furthermore, forced upregulation of mammalian target of rapamycin (mTOR) initiated either 1 month or 1 year after injury promoted regeneration of CST axons. Our results indicate that both developmental and injury-induced mTOR downregulation in corticospinal motor neurons can be reversed in adults. Modulating neuronal mTOR activity is a potential strategy for axon regeneration after chronic SCI.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  As one of the long descending tracts controlling voluntary movement, the corticospinal tract (CST) plays an important role for functional recovery after spinal cord injury. The regeneration of CST has been a major challenge in the field, especially after chronic injuries. Here we developed a strategy to modulate Pten/mammalian target of rapamycin signaling in adult corticospinal motor neurons in the postinjury paradigm. It not only promoted the sprouting of uninjured CST axons, but also enabled the regeneration of injured axons past the lesion in a mouse model of spinal cord injury, even when treatment was delayed up to 1 year after the original injury. The results considerably extend the window of opportunity for regenerating CST axons severed in spinal cord injuries.
authors.affiliation: Division of Life Science, State Key Laboratory of Molecular Neuroscience, and Center of Systems Biology and Human Health, School of Science and Institute for Advance Study, The Hong Kong University of Science and Technology, Clear Water Bay, Kowloon, Hong Kong, People's Republic of China, and.
authors.forename: Kaimeng
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Du
authors.affiliation: Division of Life Science, State Key Laboratory of Molecular Neuroscience, and Center of Systems Biology and Human Health, School of Science and Institute for Advance Study, The Hong Kong University of Science and Technology, Clear Water Bay, Kowloon, Hong Kong, People's Republic of China, and.
authors.forename: Susu
authors.identifier: http://orcid.org/0000-0003-1281-117X
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Zheng
authors.affiliation: Division of Life Science, State Key Laboratory of Molecular Neuroscience, and Center of Systems Biology and Human Health, School of Science and Institute for Advance Study, The Hong Kong University of Science and Technology, Clear Water Bay, Kowloon, Hong Kong, People's Republic of China, and.
authors.forename: Qian
authors.initials: Q
authors.lastname: Zhang
authors.affiliation: Division of Life Science, State Key Laboratory of Molecular Neuroscience, and Center of Systems Biology and Human Health, School of Science and Institute for Advance Study, The Hong Kong University of Science and Technology, Clear Water Bay, Kowloon, Hong Kong, People's Republic of China, and.
authors.forename: Songshan
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Li
authors.affiliation: Division of Life Science, State Key Laboratory of Molecular Neuroscience, and Center of Systems Biology and Human Health, School of Science and Institute for Advance Study, The Hong Kong University of Science and Technology, Clear Water Bay, Kowloon, Hong Kong, People's Republic of China, and.
authors.forename: Xin
authors.initials: X
authors.lastname: Gao
authors.affiliation: School of Life Sciences, Centre for Cell and Developmental Biology and State Key Laboratory of Agrobiotechnology, The Chinese University of Hong Kong, Shatin, New Territories, Hong Kong, People's Republic of China.
authors.forename: Juan
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Wang
authors.affiliation: School of Life Sciences, Centre for Cell and Developmental Biology and State Key Laboratory of Agrobiotechnology, The Chinese University of Hong Kong, Shatin, New Territories, Hong Kong, People's Republic of China.
authors.forename: Liwen
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Jiang
authors.affiliation: Division of Life Science, State Key Laboratory of Molecular Neuroscience, and Center of Systems Biology and Human Health, School of Science and Institute for Advance Study, The Hong Kong University of Science and Technology, Clear Water Bay, Kowloon, Hong Kong, People's Republic of China, and kailiu@ust.hk.
authors.forename: Kai
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Liu
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D001369:Axons / Q000502:physiology*; D002540:Cerebral Cortex / Q000378:metabolism / Q000473:pathology; D000229:Dependovirus / Q000235:genetics; D004195:Disease Models, Animal; D005786:Gene Expression Regulation / Q000235:genetics; D005904:Glial Fibrillary Acidic Protein / Q000378:metabolism; D049452:Green Fluorescent Proteins / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism; D008137:Longitudinal Studies; D051379:Mice; D008822:Mice, Transgenic; D009416:Nerve Regeneration / Q000235:genetics*; D051059:PTEN Phosphohydrolase / Q000172:deficiency* / Q000235:genetics; D011712:Pyramidal Tracts / Q000502:physiology*; D020127:Recovery of Function / Q000235:genetics*; D020123:Sirolimus / Q000378:metabolism; D013119:Spinal Cord Injuries / Q000473:pathology* / Q000503:physiopathology; D013997:Time Factors; D050598:Vesicular Glutamate Transport Protein 1 / Q000378:metabolism
chemical_list: D005904:Glial Fibrillary Acidic Protein; D050598:Vesicular Glutamate Transport Protein 1; D049452:Green Fluorescent Proteins; D051059:PTEN Phosphohydrolase; D020123:Sirolimus
keywords: Pten; axon regeneration; axon sprouting; chronic spinal cord injury; corticospinal tract; intrinsic axon growth ability