Abstract
Lack of regeneration of mature mammalian CNS leads to permanent functional loss after spinal cord injury. Studies show that neonatal PTEN deletion facilitates axon regeneration in corticospinal tract; however no treatment after chronic injury has shown robust axonal regeneration. In this study; we used adrenal associated virus to delete PTEN gene from corticospinal motor neuron of PTEN^flox/flox mice one year after the spinal cord injury. We observed that after 3 months there was corticospinal tract regeneration and robust regeneration 3 months later. Our result demonstrates that adult CNS can regenerate after chronic spinal cord injury and suggested clinical potential in gene therapies for chronic patients.