Neurotrophic Factors and Gene Therapy in Spinal Cord Injury

The discovery that molecules naturally occurring in the CNS can enhance neuronal survival and axonal growth has inspired new directions into spinal cord regeneration research. The knowledge about the function of these peptide growth factors (termed neurotrophic factors) has substantially increased in recent years, and it has become clear that they can induce specific axonal growth responses from various spinal pathways. Data from several laboratories indicate that spinal sensory and motor projections, as well as supraspinal projections from brain stem and motor cortex, retain the ability to respond to neurotrophic factors throughout adulthood in rodent and primate models of spinal cord injury (SCI). Furthermore, functional improvement as a result of neurotrophin delivery has been shown in partial lesions of the rat spinal cord. This article will summarize recent results from experimental studies utilizing neurotrophic factor delivery in rodent models of SCI.