PT  - JOURNAL ARTICLE
AU  - Jung-Kil Lee
AU  - Ji-Eun Kim
AU  - Michael Sivula
AU  - Stephen M. Strittmatter
TI  - Nogo Receptor Antagonism Promotes Stroke Recovery by Enhancing Axonal Plasticity
AID  - 10.1523/JNEUROSCI.1643-04.2004
DP  - 2004 Jul 07
TA  - The Journal of Neuroscience
PG  - 6209--6217
VI  - 24
IP  - 27
4099  - http://www.jneurosci.org/content/24/27/6209.short
4100  - http://www.jneurosci.org/content/24/27/6209.full
SO  - J. Neurosci.2004 Jul 07; 24
AB  - After ischemic stroke, partial recovery of function frequently occurs and may depend on the plasticity of axonal connections. Here, we examine whether blockade of the Nogo-NogoReceptor (NgR) pathway might enhance axonal sprouting and thereby recovery after focal brain infarction. Mutant mice lacking NgR or Nogo-AB recover complex motor function after stroke more completely than do control animals. After a stroke, greater numbers of axons emanating from the undamaged cortex cross the midline to innervate the contralateral red nucleus and the ipsilateral cervical spinal cord; this axonal plasticity is enhanced in ngr -/- or nogo-ab -/- mice. In rats with middle cerebral artery occlusion, both the recovery of motor skills and corticofugal axonal plasticity are promoted by intracerebroventricular administration of a function-blocking NgR fragment. Behavioral improvement occurs when therapy is initiated 1 week after arterial occlusion. Thus, delayed pharmacological blockade of the NgR promotes subacute stroke recovery by facilitating axonal plasticity.