Abstract:

Spinal cord injury (SCI) is a distressing event with grave socio/economic consequences to our society. Pathophysiological response following SCI involves blood-spinal cord barrier breakdown, neuroinflammation and formation of a glial scar that altogether govern the feasibility of spontaneous axonal re-growth and limited functional recovery. Great advances in understanding SCI pathophysiology have been achieved using numerous transgenic mouse lines developed in different strains. However, there are inherent strain differences that affect inflammation, gliosis, axon regeneration and ultimately functional recovery after SCI.