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Role of Immunity in Recovery from a Peripheral Nerve Injury

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Abstract

Motoneurons are large multipolar neurons with cell bodies located in the brainstem and spinal cord, and peripheral axons ending in neuromuscular junctions. Peripheral nerve damage, outside the blood-brain barrier (BBB), results in both retrograde changes centrally and anterograde changes along the length of the axon distal to the lesion site. Often, peripheral nerve damage is accompanied by motoneuron cell death, unless axon regrowth and target reconnection occur so that the target muscle can provide essential neurotrophic factors. It is essential that the motoneuron cell body survive during the process of reconnection so that the source for essential axon-rebuilding proteins is assure(of a fact)/ensured (results). A commonly used peripheral injury paradigm is that of facial nerve transection at its exit from the skull through the stylomastoid foramen so that nerve reconnection to the facial muscle tissue is permanently prevented. This model system allows for the study of the mechanisms responsible for maintaining facial motoneuron (FMN) cell body survival, without the complicating factor of axon regrowth. Injury to the nervous system results in an immune response that is either neuroprotective or neurodestructive. Findings suggest that FMN survival after facial nerve axotomy depends on the action of a CD4+ T cell that is initially activated peripherally and subsequently reactivated centrally. This review will summarize what is known about the neural-immune players involved in FMN survival and repair, so that the pharmacological manipulation of this interaction will one day become evident for the clinical management of neurological situations.

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Acknowledgments

The authors wish to thank all of the past and present members of their respective laboratories for the many scholarly discussions that helped us to formulate the ideas contained herein. Particular thanks goes to Drs. Craig Serpe, Susanna Byram, and Cindy DeBoy for their dedication to this project when they were graduate students. The work described herein was supported by the NIH grant NS40433.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Molecular Virology, Immunology and Medical Genetics, The Ohio State University School of Medicine and Public Health, 2194 Graves Hall, 333 W. 10th Avenue, Columbus, OH, 43210, USA

    Virginia M. Sanders

  2. Department of Cell Biology, Neurobiology & Anatomy, Loyola University Medical Center, 2160 S. First Avenue, Maywood, IL, 60152, USA

    Kathryn J. Jones

  3. Research and Development Service, Hines VA Hospital, Hines, IL, USA

    Kathryn J. Jones

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  1. Virginia M. Sanders
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Correspondence to Virginia M. Sanders.

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Sanders, V.M., Jones, K.J. Role of Immunity in Recovery from a Peripheral Nerve Injury. Jrnl NeuroImmune Pharm 1, 11–19 (2006). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11481-005-9004-0

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