RT Journal Article
SR Electronic
T1 Stress Increases Peripheral Axon Growth and Regeneration through Glucocorticoid Receptor-Dependent Transcriptional Programs
JF eneuro
JO eNeuro
FD Society for Neuroscience
SP ENEURO.0246-17.2017
DO 10.1523/ENEURO.0246-17.2017
VO 4
IS 4
A1 Jessica K. Lerch
A1 Jessica K. Alexander
A1 Kathryn M. Madalena
A1 Dario Motti
A1 Tam Quach
A1 Akhil Dhamija
A1 Alicia Zha
A1 John C. Gensel
A1 Jeanette Webster Marketon
A1 Vance P. Lemmon
A1 John L. Bixby
A1 Phillip G. Popovich
YR 2017
UL http://www.eneuro.org/content/4/4/ENEURO.0246-17.2017.abstract
AB Stress and glucocorticoid (GC) release are common behavioral and hormonal responses to injury or disease. In the brain, stress/GCs can alter neuron structure and function leading to cognitive impairment. Stress and GCs also exacerbate pain, but whether a corresponding change occurs in structural plasticity of sensory neurons is unknown. Here, we show that in female mice (Mus musculus) basal GC receptor (Nr3c1, also known as GR) expression in dorsal root ganglion (DRG) sensory neurons is 15-fold higher than in neurons in canonical stress-responsive brain regions (M. musculus). In response to stress or GCs, adult DRG neurite growth increases through mechanisms involving GR-dependent gene transcription. In vivo, prior exposure to an acute systemic stress increases peripheral nerve regeneration. These data have broad clinical implications and highlight the importance of stress and GCs as novel behavioral and circulating modifiers of neuronal plasticity.