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- Title
Sensory deprivation after focal ischemia in mice accelerates brain remapping and improves functional recovery through Arc-dependent synaptic plasticity.
- Authors
Kraft, Andrew W.; Bauer, Adam Q.; Culver, Joseph P.; Lee, Jin-Moo
- Abstract
Sensory loss induced by whisker trimming facilitates behavioral recovery after focal cerebral ischemia in mice by accelerating Arc-dependent neuronal remapping into the whisker barrel cortex. Sensing a better approach for treating stroke: Brain injury due to ischemic stroke is a major cause of permanent behavioral disabilities. The effects of rehabilitation therapies are difficult to predict, and recovery is often incomplete. After cerebral ischemic stroke, spontaneous neuronal reorganization called remapping occurs in the area surrounding the injury and has been associated with functional recovery. Here, Kraft et al. show that sensory deprivation in mice (through whisker trimming) after focal cerebral ischemia improved sensorimotor recovery through accelerated remapping to the somatosensory cortex representing the whiskers. They demonstrate that a key player in this process is the protein Arc, which is known to be associated with synaptic plasticity. The results suggest that sensory deprivation might facilitate sensorimotor recovery after cerebral ischemia by promoting remapping of the injured region. Recovery after stroke, a major cause of adult disability, is often unpredictable and incomplete. Behavioral recovery is associated with functional reorganization (remapping) in perilesional regions, suggesting that promoting this process might be an effective strategy to enhance recovery. However, the molecular mechanisms underlying remapping after brain injury and the consequences of its modulation are poorly understood. Focal sensory loss or deprivation has been shown to induce remapping in the corresponding brain areas through activity-regulated cytoskeleton-associated protein (Arc)–mediated synaptic plasticity. We show that targeted sensory deprivation via whisker trimming in mice after induction of ischemic stroke in the somatosensory cortex representing forepaw accelerates remapping into the whisker barrel cortex and improves sensorimotor recovery. These improvements persisted even after focal sensory deprivation ended (whiskers allowed to regrow). Mice deficient in Arc, a gene critical for activity-dependent synaptic plasticity, failed to remap or recover sensorimotor function. These results indicate that post-stroke remapping occurs through Arc-mediated synaptic plasticity and is required for behavioral recovery. Furthermore, our findings suggest that enhancing perilesional cortical plasticity via focal sensory deprivation improves recovery after ischemic stroke in mice.
- Subjects
LABORATORY rats; STROKE; NEUROPLASTICITY; DISABILITIES; STROKE treatment; CYTOSKELETON; SENSORY deprivation
- Publication
Science Translational Medicine, 2018, Vol 10, Issue 426, p1
- ISSN
1946-6234
- Publication type
Article
- DOI
10.1126/scitranslmed.aag1328