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The bright side of the glial scar in CNS repair

Nature Reviews Neuroscience volume 10, pages 235–241 (2009)Cite this article

Abstract

Following CNS injury, in an apparently counterintuitive response, scar tissue formation inhibits axonal growth, imposing a major barrier to regeneration. Accordingly, scar-modulating treatments have become a leading therapeutic goal in the field of spinal cord injury. However, increasing evidence suggests a beneficial role for this scar tissue as part of the endogenous local immune regulation and repair process. How can these opposing effects be reconciled? Perhaps it is all a matter of timing.

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Figure 1: Scar components and potential therapeutic interventions.
Figure 2: The repair process as a function of time and the effects of the scar.

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Acknowledgements

We would like to thank U. Nevo, for his invaluable contribution to concept development when he was a graduate student in this group, and S. Schwarzbaum. The work was supported in part by the High Q foundation and by IsrALS.

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  1. Ravid Shechter and Michal Schwartz are at the Department of Neurobiology, Asya Rolls, The Weizmann Institute of Science, 76100 Rehovot, Israel.,

    Asya Rolls, Ravid Shechter & Michal Schwartz

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Correspondence to Michal Schwartz.

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Rolls, A., Shechter, R. & Schwartz, M. The bright side of the glial scar in CNS repair. Nat Rev Neurosci 10, 235–241 (2009). https://doi.org/10.1038/nrn2591

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