Corticospinal circuit remodeling after central nervous system injury is dependent on neuronal activity

Bradley, Peter M.; Denecke, Carmen K.; Aljovic, Almir; Schmalz, Anja; Kerschensteiner, Martin und Bareyre, Florence M. (2019): Corticospinal circuit remodeling after central nervous system injury is dependent on neuronal activity. In: Journal of Experimental Medicine, Bd. 216, Nr. 11: S. 2503-2514

Abstract

The remodeling of supraspinal axonal circuits mediates functional recovery after spinal cord injury. This process critically depends on the selection of appropriate synaptic connections between cortical projection and spinal relay neurons. To unravel the principles that guide this target selection, we used genetic and chemogenetic tools to modulate NMDA receptor (NMDAR) integrity and function, CREB-mediated transcription, and neuronal firing of relay neurons during injury-induced corticospinal remodeling. We show that NMDAR signaling and CREB-mediated transcription maintain nascent corticospinal tract (CST)-relay neuron contacts. These activity-dependent signals act during a defined period of circuit remodeling and do not affect mature or uninjured circuits. Furthermore, chemogenetic modulation of relay neuron activity reveals that the regrowing CST axons select their postsynaptic partners in a competitive manner and that preventing such activity-dependent shaping of corticospinal circuits limits motor recovery after spinal cord injury.

• Dokumententyp: Zeitschriftenartikel
• Fakultät: Medizin ; Medizin > Munich Cluster for Systems Neurology (SyNergy)
• Fakultätsübergreifende Einrichtungen: Graduate School of Systemic Neurosciences (GSN)
• Themengebiete: 600 Technik, Medizin, angewandte Wissenschaften > 610 Medizin und Gesundheit ; 500 Naturwissenschaften und Mathematik > 500 Naturwissenschaften
• ISSN: 0022-1007
• Sprache: Englisch
• DFG: Gefördert durch die Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG) - 390857198