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Rejuvenation of corticospinal neurons enhances rehabilitation-associated corticospinal tract axon sprouting and functional recovery post photothrombotic ischemic stroke in mice

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Rejuvenation of corticospinal neurons enhances rehabilitation-associated corticospinal tract axon sprouting and functional recovery post photothrombotic ischemic stroke in mice

Sun Bin
Sun Li
Zhang Lixiang
Xue Xinyu
Tian Qiuyan
Wu Lei
Li Mei
Huang Jian
Ni Hong
Xu Lixiao
Feng Chenxi
Ren Jing
Huo Hongliang
Zhang Xia
Feng Xing
Zhou Wenhao
Guo Wanliang
Liu Yaobo
Ju Rong
Lin Zhenlang
Yang Xiaofeng
Ding Xin
Genes & Diseases第13卷, 第5期纸质出版 2026-09-01在线发表 2025-12-22
11900

Spontaneous recovery following an ischemic stroke is often limited, largely attributed to age-related decline in neuroplasticity. To overcome this, we demonstrated that ectopic expression of a cocktail of transcriptional factors (Oct4, Sox2, and Klf4, referred to as OSKTFs) reset developmental decline of epigenetic signatures in adult corticospinal neurons, without affecting their spinal projection patterns and function in controlling skilled locomotion. Corticospinal expression of OSKTFs had moderate effects on promoting collateral sprouting of the corticospinal tract axons and recovery of skilled motor function following a photothrombotic stroke. When combined with task-dependent rehabilitative training, OSKTFs treatment significantly enhanced its efficacy, suggesting that rejuvenating corticospinal neurons substantially amplifies the beneficial outcomes of rehabilitative training. Mechanistically, pharmacological perturbations and intersectional chemogenetic inhibition establish that both axon sprouting and functional recovery require mTOR activation and are mediated by newly sprouted corticospinal tract axons. Together, these findings identify a novel strategy to rejuvenate adult corticospinal neurons, which improves the otherwise modest benefits typically gained from rehabilitative training after traumatic brain injuries.

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Corticospinal neuronsCST axon sproutingFunctional recoveryKlf4Oct4Photothrombotic strokeRehabilitationSox2