Project description:This SuperSeries is composed of the following subset Series: GSE24440: Sprouting transcriptome in cortical neurons: young GSE24441: Sprouting transcriptome in cortical neurons: aged Refer to individual Series
Project description:Functional deficits persist after spinal cord injury (SCI) because axons in the adult mammalian central nervous system (CNS) fail to regenerate. However, modest levels of spontaneous functional recovery are typically observed after trauma, and are thought to be mediated by the plasticity of intact circuits. The mechanisms underlying intact circuit plasticity are not delineated. Here, we characterize the in vivo transcriptome of sprouting intact neurons from ngr1 null mice after partial SCI. We identify the lysophosphatidic acid signaling modulators Lppr1 and Lpar1 as intrinsic axon growth modulators for intact corticospinal motor neurons after adjacent injury. Furthermore, in vivo Lpar1 inhibition or Lppr1 overexpression enhances sprouting of intact corticospinal tract axons and yields greater functional recovery after unilateral brainstem lesion in wild type mice. Thus, the transcriptional profile of injury-induced sprouting of intact neurons reveals targets for therapeutic enhancement of axon growth initiation and new synapse formation.
Project description:In response to cortical stroke and unilateral corticospinal tract degeneration, compensatory sprouting of spared corticospinal fibers is associated with recovery of skilled movement in rodents. To date, little is known about the molecular mechanisms orchestrating this spontaneous rewiring. In this study, we provide insights into the molecular changes in the spinal cord tissue after large ischemic cortical injury in adult female mice, with a focus on factors that might influence the re-innervation process by contralesional corticospinal neurons. We mapped the area of cervical grey matter re-innervation by sprouting contralesional corticospinal axons after unilateral photothrombotic stroke of the motor cortex in mice using anterograde tracing. The mRNA profile of this re-innervation area was analyzed using whole-genome sequencing to identify differentially expressed genes at selected time points during the recovery process. Bioinformatic analysis revealed two phases of processes: Early after stroke (4-7 days post injury), the spinal transcriptome is characterized by inflammatory processes, including phagocytic processes as well as complement cascade activation. Microglia are specifically activated in the denervated corticospinal projection fields in this early phase. In a later phase (28-42 days post injury), biological processes include tissue repair pathways with up-regulated genes related to neurite outgrowth. Thus, the stroke-denervated spinal grey matter, in particular its intermediate laminae, represents a growth-promoting environment for sprouting corticospinal fibers originating from the contralesional motor cortex. This data set provides a solid starting point for future studies addressing key elements of the post-stroke recovery process, with the goal to improve neuroregenerative treatment options for stroke patients.
Project description:Astrocytes are implicated in neuronal development, particularly excitatory synaptogenesis, but their genome-wide impact is unclear. Using cell-type specific ChIP-seq we show that cortical astrocytes induce widespread changes in developing cortical neurons in histone marks associated with active open chromatin and repressed/condensed chromatin. Rat cortical neurons were maintained in the presence or absence of mouse astrocytes, ChIP-seq performed, and mixed-species ChIP-seq reads sorted according to species.