Grafted Human iPSC-Derived Neural Progenitor Cells Express Integrins and Extend Long-Distance Axons Within the Developing Corticospinal Tract.

ABSTRACT: After spinal cord injury (SCI), regeneration of adult motor axons such as axons in the corticospinal tract (CST) is severely limited. Alongside the inhibitory lesion environment, most neuronal subtypes in the mature central nervous system (CNS) are intrinsically unrepairable. With age, expression of growth-promoting proteins in neurons, such as integrins, declines. Integrin receptors allow communication between the extracellular matrix (ECM) and cell cytoskeleton and their expression in axons facilitates growth and guidance throughout the ECM. The α9β1 integrin heterodimer binds to tenascin-C (TN-C), an ECM glycoprotein expressed during development and after injury. In the mature CST however, expression of the α9 integrin subunit is downregulated, adding to the intrinsic inability of axons

SUBMITTER: Forbes LH 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC6380224 | biostudies-literature | 2019

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature