EXPERIMENTAL STRATEGIES TO PROMOTE AXONAL REGENERATION AFTER TRAUMATIC CENTRAL-NERVOUS-SYSTEM INJURY

A damage or pathological process that destroys the continuity of axons in the mature central nervous system (CNS) has devastating consequenc es and produces lasting functional deficits. One of the major challeng es in this field is to stimulate the regrowth of severed axons and rec onstruction of pathways. Recent progress in molecular and cell biology has resulted in an explosion of knowledge on factors in the adult CNS being nonsupportive or even actively inhibitory to axonal regrowth. T he new findings have a strong impact on the development of new therape utic concepts directed to stimulate axonal regeneration. They give ris e to cautious optimism, showing that under some circumstances repair o f a CNS lesion is possible. In this review the authors summarize the c urrent knowledge on the factors and mechanisms involved in regeneratio n failure and provide an overview of the current therapeutic approache s that may enable effective CNS regeneration in the future. (C) 1998 E lsevier Science Ltd. All rights reserved.