Delayed Transplantation with Exogenous Neurotrophin Administration Enhances Plasticity of Corticofugal Projections after Spinal Cord Injury

Functional deficits following spinal cord injury (SCI) result from a disruption of corticofugal projections at the lesion site. Not only direct regeneration of the severed axons but also anatomical re-organization of spared corticofugal pathways can reestablish connections between the supraspinal and spinal motor centers. We have previously shown that delayed transplantation of fetal spinal cord tissue and neurotrophin administration by two weeks after SCI supported recovery of forelimb function in adult rats. The current study determined whether the same intervention enhances plasticity of corticofugal fibers at the midbrain and spinal cord level. Anterograde tracing of the left corticorubral fibers revealed that the animals with transplants and neurotrophins (BDNF or NT-3) increased the extent of the traced fibers crossing to the right red nucleus (RN), of which the axons are spared by a right cervical overhemisection lesion. More neurons in the left motor cortex were recruited by the treatment to establish connections with the right RN. The right corticorubral projections also increased the density of midline crossing fibers to the axotomized left RN in response to transplants and neurotrophins. Transplants plus NT-3, but not BDNF, significantly increased the amount of spared corticospinal fibers in the left dorsolateral funiculus at the spinal level both rostral and caudal to the lesion. These results suggest that corticofugal projections retain the capacity until at least two weeks after injury to undergo extensive reorganization along the entire neuraxis in response to transplants and neurotrophins. Targeting anatomical plasticity of corticofugal projections may be a promising strategy to enhance functional recovery following incomplete SCI.