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J Brachial Plex Peripher Nerve Inj 2009; 04(01): e103-e108
DOI: 10.1186/1749-7221-4-18
Research article
Yuan et al; licensee BioMed Central Ltd.

GAP-43 expression correlates with spinal motoneuron regeneration following root avulsion[*]

Qiuju Yuan
1   Department of Anatomy, Li Ka Shing Faculty of Medicine, The University of Hong Kong, Pokfulam, Hong Kong SAR, China
4   School of Chinese Medicine, Faculty of Science, The Chinese University of Hong Kong, Shatin, N.T, Hong Kong SAR, China
,
Bing Hu
1   Department of Anatomy, Li Ka Shing Faculty of Medicine, The University of Hong Kong, Pokfulam, Hong Kong SAR, China
,
Huanxing Su
1   Department of Anatomy, Li Ka Shing Faculty of Medicine, The University of Hong Kong, Pokfulam, Hong Kong SAR, China
,
Kwok-Fai So
1   Department of Anatomy, Li Ka Shing Faculty of Medicine, The University of Hong Kong, Pokfulam, Hong Kong SAR, China
2   State Key Laboratory of Brain and Cognitive Sciences, The University of Hong Kong, Pokfulam, Hong Kong SAR, China
5   Joint Laboratory for Brain Function and Health (BFAH), Jinan University and The University of Hong Kong, Guangzhou, China
,
Zhixiu Lin
4   School of Chinese Medicine, Faculty of Science, The Chinese University of Hong Kong, Shatin, N.T, Hong Kong SAR, China
,
Wutian Wu
1   Department of Anatomy, Li Ka Shing Faculty of Medicine, The University of Hong Kong, Pokfulam, Hong Kong SAR, China
2   State Key Laboratory of Brain and Cognitive Sciences, The University of Hong Kong, Pokfulam, Hong Kong SAR, China
3   Research Center of Reproduction, Development and Growth, Li Ka Shing Faculty of Medicine, The University of Hong Kong, Pokfulam, Hong Kong SAR, China
5   Joint Laboratory for Brain Function and Health (BFAH), Jinan University and The University of Hong Kong, Guangzhou, China
› Author Affiliations
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Publication History

06 July 2009

25 October 2009

Publication Date:
18 September 2014 (online)

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Abstract

Background The growth-associated protein GAP-43 plays a crucial role in axonal regeneration in injured neurons.

Methods We have used immunohistochemistry to investigate the expression of GAP-43 in spinal motoneurons during nerve reconstruction following root avulsion in the neonatal and adult rats.

Results Following the injury, GAP-43-immunoreactivity (IR) could be found in adult avulsed motoneurons as early as 1 day, increased from 3 to 7 days and reached a maximal level at 2 weeks post-injury. The up-regulation of GAP-43 in adult avulsed motoneurons was accompanied with the axonal regeneration indicated by numerous regenerating motor axons entering the reimplanted ventral root and nerve. In contrast, GAP-43-IR could not be found in the neonatal avulsed motoneurons at any examined post-injury time points. This failure of up-regulation of GAP-43 was coincident with no axonal regeneration in the reimplanted nerve in the neonatal rats.

Conclusion Close association of GAP-43 expression and capacity of regeneration in reimplanted spinal nerve of avulsed motoneurons suggests that GAP-43 is a potential therapeutic target for treatment of root avulsion of brachial plexus.

*This is an Open Access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.0), which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.


 

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