Abstract

The capacity for axon growth after injury is limited in the adult mammalian central nervous system. This is attributed to both neuronal-extrinsic and intrinsic factors. The first part of this presentation will present how modulating extrinsic factors (e.g. the myelin inhibitors such as Nogo, MAG and OMgp) and intrinsic factors (e.g. PTEN ), alone or in combination, can impact axon regeneration and sprouting and functional recovery after spinal cord injury. The second part will focus on the effect of age on axon growth after SCI . Indeed, very little is known about how age influences the way the spinal cord responds to injury. We recently demonstrated an age-dependent decline in CNS axon regeneration accompanied by changes of neuron-extrinsic factors at the injury site, implicating an increasing level of inhibitory influences at increasing ages. These data have important implications on therapeutic development for spinal cord injury and a variety of other CNS conditions with axonal pathologies.