Dataset

Conditioning electrical nerve stimulation enhances functional rewiring in a mouse model of nerve transfer to treat chronic spinal cord injury

Juan Jara¹, Marwa Soliman¹, Amanda Bernstein¹, Paola di Grazia¹, Adam Ferguson², Justin Brown³, Abel Torres-Espín⁴, Edmund Hollis¹

¹Burke Neurological Institute
²San Francisco Veterans Affairs Healthcare System
³Massachusetts General Paralysis Center, Massachusetts General Hospital
⁴School of Public Health, University of Waterloo

DOI: 10.12751/g-node.xljkm6 BROWSE REPOSITORY BROWSE ARCHIVE DOWNLOAD ARCHIVE (ZIP 1.5 MiB)

Published 25 Feb. 2025 | License Creative Commons CC0 1.0 Public Domain Dedication

Description

Background/Objectives: Nerve transfer surgery is a state-of-the-art surgical approach to restore hand and arm function in individuals living with tetraplegia, significantly im-pacting daily life. While nearly a third of all individuals with chronic spinal cord injury may benefit from this intervention, variability in outcomes can limit the functional im-pact. A bedside to bench approach was taken to address the variable response of tetra-plegic individuals to nerve transfer surgery. Methods: We used a hierarchical multiple factor analysis to evaluate the effects of conditioning electrical stimulation (CES) on out-comes in a mouse model of nerve transfer to treat chronic cervical spinal cord injury. Results: We found that CES of donor nerves one week prior to nerve transfer surgery enhanced anatomical and functional measures of innervation of targeted muscles. Fur-thermore, CES increased the rate of recovery of naturalistic behavior. Conclusions: While the model has some limitations due to the small size of the rodent, our results support the use of CES as an effective approach to improve outcomes in clinical nerve repair settings.

Keywords

References

Jara JS, Soliman M, Bernstein A, di Grazia P, Ferguson AR, Brown JM, Torres-Espín A, and Hollis E (2025) Conditioning Electrical Nerve Stimulation Enhances Functional Rewiring in a Mouse Model of Nerve Transfer to Treat Chronic Spinal Cord Injury. Brain Sciences.
Jara JS, Soliman M, Bernstein A, di Grazia P, Ferguson AR, Brown JM, Torres-Espín A, and Hollis E (2025) Conditioning electrical stimulation enhances functional rewiring in a mouse model of nerve transfer to treat chronic spinal cord injury. BioRxiv https://doi.org/10.1101/2025.01.17.633666

Funding

Paralyzed Veterans of America Research Foundation PVA22_R_00037
New York State Department of Health grant C34463GG
National Institutes of Health DP2 NS106663
National Institutes of Health S10 OD028547
National Institutes of Health R01 NS122888
National Institutes of Health U24 NS122732
Veterans Administration I01RX002245
Veterans Administration I01RX002787
Veterans Administration I01BX005871
Veterans Administration I50BX005878

Citation

Jara J, Soliman M, Bernstein A, di Grazia P, Ferguson A, Brown J, Torres-Espín A, Hollis E (2025) Conditioning electrical nerve stimulation enhances functional rewiring in a mouse model of nerve transfer to treat chronic spinal cord injury. G-Node. https://doi.org/10.12751/g-node.xljkm6