New research reveals unexpected function of spine motor network

Researchers at Karolinska Institutet, the German Center for Neurodegenerative Diseases (DZNE), and Columbia University Irvine Medical Center have discovered an unexpected connection between the activity of the adult spinal cord zebrafish spinal cord activity network and adult neurogenesis
.

This research was recently published in "Nature Communications"

Since the first demonstration of the central pattern generator (CPG) of the spine in the early 1970s, the activities of neurons participating in the central pattern generator network have been considered only in terms of their contribution to movement
.

"We can now reveal an unforeseen central non-motor function of spinal cord motor neurons and demonstrate how they dynamically regulate neurogenesis and regeneration after the spinal cord," said Konstantinos Ampatzis, a researcher and corresponding author in the Department of Neuroscience
.

What does the research show?

"In this study, we determined the direct role of spinal cord motor neurons in activating spinal cord stem cell populations, which can produce glial cells of new neurons in adult zebrafish
.

Therefore, during long-term exercise, as As we have seen after training, stem cells receive too much synaptic input, allowing them to exit the quiescent state and proliferate

Researchers found that acetylcholine and GABA are two neurotransmitters that directly affect stem cells in the adult zebrafish spinal cord; however, their effects are mutually antagonistic
.

"Identifying neurons that provide cholinergic input to activate stem cells is one of the most unexpected discoveries
.

We discovered that a special type of spinal motor interneurons, called V2a, are neurons that connect movement and stem cell activation.

How to find application?

"The overall result is about plasticity and adaptability (mechanisms, structural changes) and how these adaptive phenomena become pathogenic after injury and/or spinal cord network regeneration
.

These results are expected to have a significant impact because they are for the development of new , A more effective targeted therapy for spinal cord repair after injury lays the foundation,” Konstantinos Ampatzis explained

This research involves a series of different methods in neuroscience, such as anatomy, electrophysiology, pharmacology and behavior of adult zebrafish
.

In their experiments, the researchers took advantage of the experimental adaptability of adult zebrafish

"This model animal is very suitable for these studies
.

It has an anatomically simple nervous system, but has the characteristics of all vertebrates

What is the next step?

"Our next step is to determine the types of neurons that are born under homeostasis, training, and spinal cord injury
.

We need to determine whether new neurons replace existing neurons, or whether they serve as add-ons to the spinal cord network," said Konstantinos Ampatzis

Locomotion dependent neuron-glia interactions control neurogenesis and regeneration in the adult zebrafish spinal cord
Chang W, Pedroni A, Bertuzzi M, Kizil C, Simon A, Ampatzis K
Nature Communications,? 12, 4857 (2021).

https://doi.
org/10.