Neurotrauma such as spinal cord injury often leads to devastating and persistent neurological deficits. The major reason of disability is disconnection of neural networks by axonal damage, despite survival of many neurons. The central nervous system of adult mammals has extremely limited ability for axonal regeneration. In the past, several cell signaling pathways regulating axon regeneration in vivo have been discovered. However, majority of these identified approaches target either tumor suppressors or oncogenes, and are not ideal for therapeutical development. We recently developed an approach for compound screening on axon regeneration. A library of FDA-approved drugs and other compound libraries are being used for this pro-growth phenotypic assay. Our preliminary data sugge...[ Read more ]

Neurotrauma such as spinal cord injury often leads to devastating and persistent neurological deficits. The major reason of disability is disconnection of neural networks by axonal damage, despite survival of many neurons. The central nervous system of adult mammals has extremely limited ability for axonal regeneration. In the past, several cell signaling pathways regulating axon regeneration in vivo have been discovered. However, majority of these identified approaches target either tumor suppressors or oncogenes, and are not ideal for therapeutical development. We recently developed an approach for compound screening on axon regeneration. A library of FDA-approved drugs and other compound libraries are being used for this pro-growth phenotypic assay. Our preliminary data suggest that a few compounds may promote axon growth in vitro. In vivo validation will be needed. This screening may not only help us understand the basic biology of axon growth but also provide a possibility for translation.