JAK-STAT pathway activation in response to spinal cord injury in regenerative and non-regenerative stages ofXenopus laevis.
Xenopus laevistadpoles can regenerate the spinal cord after injury but this capability is lost during metamorphosis. Comparative studies between pre-metamorphic and metamorphicXenopusstages can aid towards understanding the molecular mechanisms of spinal cord regeneration. Analysis of a previous transcriptome-wide study suggests that, in response to injury, the JAK-STAT pathway is differentially activated in regenerative and non-regenerative stages. We characterized the activation of the JAK-STAT pathway and found that regenerative tadpoles have an early and transient activation. In contrast, the non-regenerative stages have a delayed and sustained activation of the pathway. We found that STAT3 is activated in response to injury mainly in Sox2/3+ependymal cells, motoneurons and sensory neurons. Finally, to study the role of temporal activation we generated a transgenic line to express a constitutively active version of STAT3. The sustained activation of the JAK-STAT pathway in regenerative tadpoles reduced the expression of pro-neurogenic genes normally upregulated in response to spinal cord injury, suggesting that activation of the JAK-STAT pathway modulates the fate of neural progenitors.
Center for Aging and Regeneration Millennium Nucleus in Regenerative Biology Facultad de Ciencias Biologicas Pontificia Universidad Catolica de Chile Santiago Chile.
Victor S
VS
Tapia
Center for Aging and Regeneration Millennium Nucleus in Regenerative Biology Facultad de Ciencias Biologicas Pontificia Universidad Catolica de Chile Santiago Chile.
Mauricio
M
Herrera-Rojas
Center for Aging and Regeneration Millennium Nucleus in Regenerative Biology Facultad de Ciencias Biologicas Pontificia Universidad Catolica de Chile Santiago Chile.
Juan
J
Larrain
JAK‐STAT; Regeneration; STAT3; Spinal cord injury; Xenopus