Ward Patricia J, English Arthur W
Department of Cell Biology, Emory University School of Medicine, Atlanta, GA, USA.
Bio Protoc. 2019 Jun 20;9(12). doi: 10.21769/BioProtoc.3281.
Although axons in the peripheral nervous system can regenerate, functional recovery after nerve injuries is poor. Activity-based therapies, such as exercise and electrical stimulation, enhance the regeneration of cut peripheral axons. Despite their effectiveness, clinical application of these experimental techniques has been limited. At least part of the basis for this translational barrier has been a lack of information as to the precise mechanism of activity-based therapies on peripheral axon regeneration. To evaluate the requirements for neuron-type specific activation to promote regeneration using these therapies, in the current protocol, we employed optogenetics. Utilizing the advantages of transgenic mouse lines we targeted opsin expression to different neuron types. Using fiber optics we activated those neurons with high temporal specificity as a model of activity-based intervention after nerve injury and to measure functional recovery achieved after such a treatment.
虽然外周神经系统中的轴突能够再生，但神经损伤后的功能恢复情况不佳。基于活动的疗法，如运动和电刺激，可促进切断的外周轴突再生。尽管这些疗法有效，但其临床应用一直有限。这种转化障碍的至少部分原因是缺乏关于基于活动的疗法对外周轴突再生的确切机制的信息。为了评估使用这些疗法促进再生所需的神经元类型特异性激活条件，在本实验方案中，我们采用了光遗传学方法。利用转基因小鼠品系的优势，我们将视蛋白的表达靶向不同的神经元类型。我们使用光纤以高时间特异性激活这些神经元，作为神经损伤后基于活动的干预模型，并测量这种治疗后实现的功能恢复情况。
