Targeting lysophospholipid signaling as a therapeutic approach towards improved peripheral nerve regeneration.

Abstract

Peripheral nerve injury causes a partial or total loss of motor and sensory functions as a result of axonal disruption and subsequent axonal disintegration as well as denervation distal from the point of injury. Although peripheral nerves are, in contrast to the central nervous system, able to regenerate and reinnervate, functionality is not always restored completely due to insufficient reinnervation or remyelination, and injury may result in sequelae such as neuropathic pain. The degenerative processes following peripheral nerve injury are generally referred to as Wallerian degeneration (Gaudet et al., 2011).