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Enriched conditioning expands the regenerative ability of sensory neurons after spinal cord injury via neuronal intrinsic redox signaling

De Virgiliis, F;Hutson, TH;Palmisano, I;Amachree, S;Miao, J;Zhou, L;Todorova, R;Thompson, R;Danzi, MC;Lemmon, VP;Bixby, JL;Wittig, I;Shah, AM;Di Giovanni, S;

Overcoming the restricted axonal regenerative ability that limits functional repair following a central nervous system injury remains a challenge. Here we report a regenerative paradigm that we call enriched conditioning, which combines environmental enrichment (EE) followed by a conditioning sciatic nerve axotomy that precedes a spinal cord injury (SCI). Enriched conditioning significantly increases the regenerative ability of dorsal root ganglia (DRG) sensory neurons compared to EE or a conditioning injury alone, propelling axon growth well beyond the spinal injury site. Mechanistically, we established that enriched conditioning relies on the unique neuronal intrinsic signaling axis PKC-STAT3-NADPH oxidase 2 (NOX2), enhancing redox signaling as shown by redox proteomics in DRG. Finally, NOX2 conditional deletion or overexpression respectively blocked or phenocopied enriched conditioning-dependent axon regeneration after SCI leading to improved functional recovery. These studies provide a paradigm that drives the regenerative ability of sensory neurons offering a potential redox-dependent regenerative model for mechanistic and therapeutic discoveries.