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. 2020 Apr 3;14:78. doi: 10.3389/fncel.2020.00078

Table 1.

Recent studies demonstrating the roles of the glial scar in SCI.

Role of the glial scar in SCI SCI model Intervention Results Reference
Aids regeneration T10 forceps crush injury (mice) Inhibition of the glial scar by STAT3 knockout, TK/GCV, and diphtheria toxin-mediated astrocyte ablation Failed to result in spontaneous axonal regrowth Anderson et al. (2016)
T8 forceps crush injury (mice) Selective ablation of the glial scar by the HSV-TK/GCV system Failed to improve spontaneous functional recovery Gu et al. (2019)
C5 contusion (mice) Glial scar disruption by NG2 ablation Impaired forelimb locomotion Hesp et al. (2018)
Restricts inflammatory and fibrotic cells L1/L2 forceps crush injury (mice) Selective deletion of STAT3 Increased the spread of inflammatory and fibrotic cells; increased neuronal loss Wanner et al. (2013)
T10 aneurysm clip crush injury (mice) Conditional ablation of astrocytic BMPR1a Reduced astrocytic hypertrophy, increased inflammatory infiltration and reduced axon density Sahni et al. (2010)
L1/L2 longitudinal stab injury and moderate crush injury Ablation of reactive astrocytes by the HSV-TK/GCV system Failure of blood-brain barrier repair, leukocyte infiltration, local tissue disruption, severe demyelination, neuronal and oligodendrocyte death and pronounced motor deficits Faulkner et al. (2004)
Provides permissive bridges for axonal regeneration T8 forceps crush injury (mice) shRNA-mediated PTEN suppression Most axons regrew along the astrocytic bridge Zukor et al. (2013)
Induces A1 astrocytes, which kill neurons and mature oligodendrocytes T10 weight-drop impact injury (rats) Notch signaling pathway blockage Suppresses A1 astrocyte transition Qian et al. (2019)
T10 impactor contusion injury (rats) Intravenous injection of mesenchymal stem cells or their exosomes Decreased lesion area and improved motor function Wang L. et al. (2018)
Inhibits axonal regeneration T10 impactor contusion injury (mice) Reduction in glial scar formation through the pharmacological blockade of astrocytic type I collagen interaction Improved axonal regeneration and functional recovery Hara et al. (2017)
Produces CSPGs to inhibit spinal cord regeneration T10 impactor contusion injury (mice) Chondroitin sulphate N-acetylgalactosaminyl-transferase-1 gene knockout Improved recovery compared to that of chondroitinase ABC-treated mice and wild-type mice Takeuchi et al. (2013)
T8 impactor contusion injury (rats) CSPG receptor blockade by a CSPG receptor PTPσ mimetic peptide Facilitated functional recovery Lang et al. (2015)
C7 hemisection (rhesus monkeys) Intraparenchymal injections of chondroitinase Improved hand function Rosenzweig et al. (2019)
C2 hemisection (rats) A combined chondroitinase ABC and intermittent hypoxia conditioning treatment Led to a rapid and robust respiratory and motor recovery Warren et al. (2018)
T8 hemisection (rats) Decreasing CSPGs and fibrotic scarring by microtube stabilization Promoted axonal regeneration Hellal et al. (2011)