Peripheral nerve regeneration occurs spontaneously after injury due to the permissive environment and activation of intrinsic growth capacity neurons. Injuries can be divided into three categories: neurapraxia, axonotmesis neurotmesis. Wallerian degeneration neurotmesis, affecting axon distal site damage. After this phase is complete, damaged neurons try rebuild fibers with axonal budding. Axon...

The expression of the mutant Wallerian degeneration slow (WldS) protein significantly delays axonal degeneration from various nerve injuries and in multiple species; however, the mechanism for its axonal protective property remains unclear. Although WldS is localized predominantly in the nucleus, it also is present in a smaller axonal pool, leading to conflicting models to account for the WldS ...

Axons actively self-destruct following genetic, mechanical, metabolic, and toxic insults, but the mechanism of axonal degeneration is poorly understood. The JNK pathway promotes axonal degeneration shortly after axonal injury, hours before irreversible axon fragmentation ensues. Inhibition of JNK activity during this period delays axonal degeneration, but critical JNK substrates that facilitate...

Axonal degeneration is a molecular self-destruction cascade initiated following traumatic, toxic, and metabolic insults. Its mechanism underlies a number of disorders including hereditary and diabetic neuropathies and the neurotoxic side effects of chemotherapy drugs. Molecules that promote axonal degeneration could represent potential targets for therapy. To identify such molecules, we designe...

The role of autophagy in retinal ganglion cell (RGC) death is still controversial. Several studies focused on RGC body death, although the axonal degeneration pathway in the optic nerve has not been well documented in spite of evidence that the mechanisms of degeneration of neuronal cell bodies and their axons differ. Axonal degeneration of RGCs is a hallmark of glaucoma, and a pattern of local...

Axonal degeneration is a key pathological feature in many neurological diseases. It often leads to persistent deficits due to the inability of axons to regenerate in the central nervous system. Therefore therapeutic approaches should optimally both attenuate axonal degeneration and foster axonal regeneration. Compelling evidence suggests that collapsin response mediator protein-2 (CRMP2) might ...

We examined the role of extracellular calcium entry, the possible involvement of axonal calcium channels, and the potential protective effect of calcium channel and calpain antagonists in axotomy-induced axonal degeneration using murine dorsal root ganglia in cell culture. We found that calcium entry is both necessary and sufficient to induce axonal degeneration after axotomy, and may be inhibi...

Wallerian degeneration is an active program tightly associated with axonal degeneration, required for axonal regeneration and functional recovery after nerve damage. Here we provide a functional molecular foundation for our undertstanding of the complex non-cell autonomous role of glial cells in the regulation of axonal degeneration. To shed light on the complexity of the molecular machinery go...

In several neurodegenerative diseases, axonal degeneration occurs before neuronal death and contributes significantly to patients' disability. Hereditary spastic paraplegia (HSP) is a genetically heterogeneous condition characterized by selective degeneration of axons of the corticospinal tracts and fasciculus gracilis. HSP may therefore be considered an exemplary disease to study the local pro...

Most peripheral neuropathies are length dependent and result in distal axonal degeneration rather than loss of neuronal cell bodies. Available therapies for axonal peripheral neuropathies are designed to control painful symptoms and not to treat the underlying axonal degeneration. Many neuroprotective therapies are being developed, primarily for central nervous system disorders such as stroke o...