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Absence of gliosis in a teleost model of spinal cord regeneration

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Abstract

Among the cellular processes that follow injury to the central nervous system, glial scar formation is thought to be one of the major factors that prevent regeneration. In regeneration-competent organisms, glial scar formation has been a matter of controversy. We addressed this issue by examining the glial population after spinal cord injury in a model of regeneration competency, the knifefish Apteronotus leptorhynchus. Analysis of spinal cord sections immunostained against the glial markers glial fibrillary acidic protein, vimentin, or chondroitin sulfate proteoglycan failed to produce any evidence for the formation of a glial scar in the area of the lesion at post-injury survival times ranging from 5 to 185 days. This result was independent of the lesion paradigm applied—amputation of the caudal part of the spinal cord or hemisection lesioning—and similar after examination of transverse and longitudinal sections. We hypothesize that the well-developed network of radial glia in both the intact and the injured spinal cord provides a support system for regeneration of tissue lost to injury. This glial network is likely also involved in the generation of new cells, as indicated by the large subset of glial fibrillary acidic protein-labeled glia that express the stem cell marker Sox2.

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Acknowledgments

Funding for this investigation was provided by Northeastern University to Günther K.H. Zupanc, and National Science Foundation Grant No. 1538505 awarded to Günther K.H. Zupanc and Rifat Sipahi. All animal experiments were approved by the Institutional Animal Care and Use Committee of Northeastern University. All efforts were made to reduce the number of animals used and to minimize suffering.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Laboratory of Neurobiology, Department of Biology, Northeastern University, 134 Mugar Life Sciences, 360 Huntington Avenue, Boston, MA, 02115, USA

    Antonia G. Vitalo, Ruxandra F. Sîrbulescu, Iulian Ilieş & Günther K. H. Zupanc

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  1. Antonia G. Vitalo
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  2. Ruxandra F. Sîrbulescu
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  3. Iulian Ilieş
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  4. Günther K. H. Zupanc
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Correspondence to Günther K. H. Zupanc.

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Vitalo, A.G., Sîrbulescu, R.F., Ilieş, I. et al. Absence of gliosis in a teleost model of spinal cord regeneration. J Comp Physiol A 202, 445–456 (2016). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00359-016-1089-9

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00359-016-1089-9

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