Traumatic SCI initiates a cascade of cytotoxic events including starvation, oxidative stress and ER stress. A number of protective mechanisms are initiated to maintain cellular homeostasis, that include the integrated stress response (ISR) and the unfolded protein response (UPR). The ERSR initiates PERK-, IRE1-, and ATF6-dependent responses. We define the ISR as encompassing all of the four kinases that phosphorylate eIF2α (PERK, GCN2, HRI and PKR) and the UPR containing its master regulators (IRE1 and ATF6).