Logo image
Back
Electrophysiological responses in foetal spinal cord transplants evoked by regenerated dorsal root axons
Book chapter   Peer reviewed

Electrophysiological responses in foetal spinal cord transplants evoked by regenerated dorsal root axons

Y Itoh, A Tessler, M Kowada and M Pinter
Acta neurochirurgica. Supplementum, v 58, pp 24-26
01 Jan 1993
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-7091-9297-9_5

Abstract

Cut dorsal root axons regenerate into intraspinal transplants of foetal spinal cord (FSC) and establish synaptic connections there. The aim of the present study was to determine whether transplant neurons are driven synaptically in response to electrical stimulation of regenerated dorsal root axons. Adult Sprague-Dawley rats received FSC transplants (E14) into dorsal quadrant cavities at the lumbar enlargement. The cut L4 or L5 dorsal root stump was placed at the bottom of the lesion cavity and secured between the transplant and host spinal cord. Four to ten weeks later the animals were prepared for electrical stimulation and recording. We stimulated regenerated dorsal roots and recorded extracellular signle unit post-synaptic activities which were evoked close to the dorsal root-transplant interface. We used intracellular recording to observe several examples of monosynaptic EPSPs in transplant neurons evoked by dorsal root stimulation. These results indicate that the regenerated dorsal root axons establish functional connections with neurons within the transplants and suggest that FSC transplants can be used to reconstruct functional connections between neurons that have been interrupted by spinal cord injury.

Metrics

10 Record Views
2 citations in Web of Science
7 citations in Scopus

Details

Logo image