Skip to main content

Thank you for visiting nature.com. You are using a browser version with limited support for CSS. To obtain the best experience, we recommend you use a more up to date browser (or turn off compatibility mode in Internet Explorer). In the meantime, to ensure continued support, we are displaying the site without styles and JavaScript.

  • News & Views
  • Published:

Neurobiology

Finding the lost target

Nature volume 403, pages 257–259 (2000)Cite this article

All the sensations of our body — touch and heat, muscle tension, muscle ache and so on — reach the central nervous system (CNS) through the peripheral nerves, which enter the spinal cord as small, segmental nerve bundles, the spinal roots. When sensory nerve fibres are damaged in a peripheral nerve or a spinal root, they can regenerate over long distances. But when such regenerating fibres contact the spinal cord, they abruptly stop growing and seem unable to enter the CNS tissue. The study by Ramer et al.1 on page 312 of this issue shows that specific neurotrophic factors (proteins that enhance the growth of nerve fibres and neuronal maturation during development) can influence the regenerating sensory fibres, allowing them to enter the spinal cord where they terminate and establish functional connections.

The supercomputer of our body, the CNS, requires a particular, specific environment: it is encapsulated in the bony structures of the skull and vertebral column, and it is shielded from the bloodstream by the blood–brain barrier. The motor output to the entire body leaves the CNS through the segmental ventral spinal roots, and the sensory input comes in through the corresponding dorsal roots. These delicate fibre bundles are prone to damage, often resulting in massive pain. Strong tension on the roots — as could happen in, say, a motorcycle accident — can lead to the roots being torn from the spinal cord (root avulsion), leading to loss of sensation and paralysis.

This is a preview of subscription content, access via your institution

Access options

Buy this article

  • Purchase on Springer Link
  • Instant access to full article PDF
Buy now

Prices may be subject to local taxes which are calculated during checkout

Figure 1: Cross-section of half the spinal cord with dorsal root and dorsal root entry zone (DREZ).
Figure 2: Picture from Ramón y Cajal (1928)2.

References

  1. Ramer, M. S., Priestley, J. V. & McMacon, S. B. Nature 403, 312– 316 (2000).

    Article  ADS  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  2. Ramón y Cajal, S. Degeneration and Regeneration in the Nervous System (Hafner, New York, 1928).

  3. Schwab, M. E. & Bartholdi, D. Physiol. Rev. 76, 319–370 (1996).

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  4. Fitch, M. T. & Silver, J. Cell Tissue Res. 290, 379–384 (1997).

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  5. Siegal, J. D., Kliot, M., Smith, G. M. & Silver, J. Exp. Neurol. 109, 90–97 ( 1990).

    CAS  Google Scholar 

  6. Schnell, L., Schneider, R., Kolbeck, R., Barde, Y.-A. & Schwab, M. E. Nature 367, 170–173 (1994).

    Article  ADS  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  7. Grill, R., Murai, K., Blesch, A. & Gage, F. H. J. Neurosci. 17, 5560–5572 (1997).

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  8. Cai, D., Chen, Y., De Bellards, M. E., Tang, S. & Filbin, M. T. Neuron 22, 89–101 (1998).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  9. Bregman, B. S. et al. Nature 378, 498–501 (1995).

    Article  ADS  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  10. Li, Y., Field, P. M. & Raisman, G. Science 277, 2000– 2002 (1997).

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

Download references

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. the Department of Neuromorphology Brain Research Institute, University of Zürich, and the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology Zürich, Winterthurerstrasse 190 , Zürich, 8057, Switzerland

    Martin E. Schwab

Authors
  1. Martin E. Schwab
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Martin E. Schwab.

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Cite this article

Schwab, M. Finding the lost target. Nature 403, 257–259 (2000). https://doi.org/10.1038/35002226

Download citation

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/35002226

This article is cited by

Search

Advanced search

Quick links

Nature Briefing

Sign up for the Nature Briefing newsletter — what matters in science, free to your inbox daily.

Get the most important science stories of the day, free in your inbox. Sign up for Nature Briefing