Chemogenetic stimulation of proprioceptors remodels lumbar interneuron excitability and promotes motor recovery after SCI.

ABSTRACT: Motor recovery after severe spinal cord injury (SCI) is limited due to the disruption of direct descending commands. Despite the absence of brain-derived descending inputs, sensory afferents below injury sites remain intact. Among them, proprioception acts as an important sensory source to modulate local spinal circuits and determine motor outputs. Yet, it remains unclear whether enhancing proprioceptive inputs promotes motor recovery after severe SCI. Here, we first established a viral system to selectively target lumbar proprioceptive neurons and then introduced the excitatory Gq-coupled Designer Receptors Exclusively Activated by Designer Drugs (DREADD) virus into proprioceptors to achieve specific activation of lumbar proprioceptive neurons upon CNO administration. We demonstrated that

SUBMITTER: Gao Z 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC8353208 | biostudies-literature | 2021 Aug

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature