ArticlePloS one2016
Optically-Induced Neuronal Activity Is Sufficient to Promote Functional Motor Axon Regeneration In Vivo.
Article in PloS one, 2016. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 30 papers.
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Who cites it
30 citing papers in PubMed, 45 citations in OpenAlex.
- Electrical Stimulation Therapy to Accelerate Nerve Regeneration Remains Effective Following Postoperative Application of Lidocaine.Hand (New York, N.Y.) · 2026Article
- Neuromodulation strategies in postburn care for pain rehabilitation and scar remodelling.Communications medicine · 2026Review
- Surgical Outcomes in Non-Transected and Partially Transected Peripheral Nerve Injuries.Brain sciences · 2025Review
- Optogenetic methods to stimulate gamma motor neuron axons ex vivo.Experimental physiology · 2025Article
- Article
- Transcranial Optogenetic Stimulation Promotes Corticospinal Tract Axon Regeneration to Repair Spinal Cord Injury by Activating the JAK2/STAT3 Pathway.Neurospine · 2025Article
- Clinical evaluation of a novel disposable neurostimulator used to accelerate regeneration of injured peripheral nerves in the hand.Bioelectronic medicine · 2025Article
- Review on electrical stimulation combined with electroactive biomaterials to promote peripheral nerve regeneration.Burns & trauma · 2025Review
- Enhancing Motor and Sensory Axon Regeneration after Peripheral Nerve Injury Using Bioluminescent Optogenetics.International journal of molecular sciences · 2022Article
- The structure of sensory afferent compartments in health and disease.Journal of anatomy · 2022Review
- Genetic control of neuronal activity enhances axonal growth only on permissive substrates.Molecular medicine (Cambridge, Mass.) · 2022Article
- Angiogenesis is critical for the exercise-mediated enhancement of axon regeneration following peripheral nerve injury.Experimental neurology · 2022Article
- Diseased, differentiated and difficult: Strategies for improved engineering ofFrontiers in cellular neuroscience · 2022Review
- Advanced Materials in Wireless, Implantable Electrical Stimulators That Offer Rapid Rates of Bioresorption for Peripheral Axon Regeneration.Advanced functional materials · 2021Article
- Neuronal androgen receptor is required for activity dependent enhancement of peripheral nerve regeneration.Developmental neurobiology · 2021Article
- Chronic Pharmacological Increase of Neuronal Activity Improves Sensory-Motor Dysfunction in Spinal Muscular Atrophy Mice.The Journal of neuroscience : the official journal of the Society for Neuroscience · 2021Article
- Motoneuron activity is required for enhancements in functional recovery after peripheral nerve injury in exercised female mice.Journal of neuroscience research · 2020Article
- New era of optogenetics: from the central to peripheral nervous system.Critical reviews in biochemistry and molecular biology · 2020Review
- Functional Electrical Stimulation and the Modulation of the Axon Regeneration Program.Frontiers in cell and developmental biology · 2020Review
- Bridging larger gaps in peripheral nerves using neural prosthetics and physical therapeutic agents.Neural regeneration research · 2019Article
Corrections and comments
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Authors and funding
6 authors at 2 institutions in 1 country.
Funding
Abstract
Peripheral nerve injuries are common, and functional recovery is very poor. Beyond surgical repair of the nerve, there are currently no treatment options for these patients. In experimental models of nerve injury, interventions (such as exercise and electrical stimulation) that increase neuronal activity of the injured neurons effectively enhance axon regeneration. Here, we utilized optogenetics to determine whether increased activity alone is sufficient to promote motor axon regeneration. In thy-1-ChR2/YFP transgenic mice in which a subset of motoneurons express the light-sensitive cation channel, channelrhodopsin (ChR2), we activated axons in the sciatic nerve using blue light immediately prior to transection and surgical repair of the sciatic nerve. At four weeks post-injury, direct muscle EMG responses evoked with both optical and electrical stimuli as well as the ratio of these optical/electrical evoked EMG responses were significantly greater in mice that received optical treatment. Thus, significantly more ChR2+ axons successfully re-innervated the gastrocnemius muscle in mice that received optical treatment. Sections of the gastrocnemius muscles were reacted with antibodies to Synaptic Vesicle Protein 2 (SV2) to quantify the number of re-occupied motor endplates. The number of SV2+ endplates was greater in mice that received optical treatment. The number of retrogradely-labeled motoneurons following intramuscular injection of cholera toxin subunit B (conjugated to Alexa Fluor 555) was greater in mice that received optical treatment. Thus, the acute (1 hour), one-time optical treatment resulted in robust, long-lasting effects compared to untreated animals as well as untreated axons (ChR2-). We conclude that neuronal activation is sufficient to promote motor axon regeneration, and this regenerative effect is specific to the activated neurons.
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Registered trials
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