Microglia-organized scar-free spinal cord repair in neonatal mice.

ABSTRACT: Spinal cord injury in mammals is thought to trigger scar formation with little regeneration of axons^1-4. Here we show that a crush injury to the spinal cord in neonatal mice leads to scar-free healing that permits the growth of long projecting axons through the lesion. Depletion of microglia in neonatal mice disrupts this healing process and stalls the regrowth of axons, suggesting that microglia are critical for orchestrating the injury response. Using single-cell RNA sequencing and functional analyses, we find that neonatal microglia are transiently activated and have at least two key roles in scar-free healing. First, they transiently secrete fibronectin and its binding proteins to form bridges of extracellular matrix that ligate the severed ends of the spinal cord. Second, n

SUBMITTER: Li Y 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC7704837 | biostudies-literature | 2020 Nov

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature