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Regeneration of CNS axons back to their target following treatment of adult rat brain with chondroitinase ABC

Abstract

Following CNS injury in the adult mammal, axon regeneration fails in scar regions containing a number of different chondroitin sulfate-bearing proteoglycans (CSPGs)1. Degradation of chondroitin sulfate using chondroitinase ABC reduces growth inhibition associated with many CSPGs2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9,10,11,12,13. Here we demonstrate that it is possible to enhance CNS axon regeneration in the adult rat nigrostriatal tract following chondroitinase ABC degradation of chondroitin sulfate.

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Figure 1: Treatment with chondroitinase ABC enhanced dopaminergic nigrostriatal axon regeneration in vivo.
Figure 2: Treatment with chondroitinase ABC degraded chondroitin sulfate in vivo, examined 11 days post-axotomy.

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Acknowledgements

This work was funded by grants from the Medical Research Council, Action Research, the International Spinal Research Trust and the Wellcome Trust. Various antibodies were donated by J. Levine and A. Oohira, or obtained from the Developmental Studies Hybridoma Bank maintained by the University of Iowa.

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Correspondence to James W. Fawcett.

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Moon, L., Asher, R., Rhodes, K. et al. Regeneration of CNS axons back to their target following treatment of adult rat brain with chondroitinase ABC. Nat Neurosci 4, 465–466 (2001). https://doi.org/10.1038/87415

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