Traumatic spinal cord injury is a devastating condition that leads to significant neurological deficits and reduced quality of life. Therapeutic interventions after spinal cord lesions are designed to address multiple aspects of the secondary damage. However, the lack of detailed knowledge about the cellular and molecular changes that occur after spinal cord injury restricts the design of effective treatments. Li and colleagues using a rat model of spinal cord injury and in vivo microscopy reveal that pericytes play a key role in the regulation of capillary tone and blood flow in the spinal cord below the site of the lesion. Strikingly, inhibition of specific proteins expressed by pericytes after spinal cord injury diminished hypoxia and improved motor function and locomotion of the injured rats. This work highlights a novel central cellular population that might be pharmacologically targeted in patients with spinal cord trauma. The emerging knowledge from this research may provide new approaches for the treatment of spinal cord injury.

创伤性脊髓损伤是一种破坏性疾病，导致严重的神经功能缺损和生活质量下降。脊髓损伤后的治疗干预措施旨在解决继发性损伤的多个方面。然而，缺乏对脊髓损伤后发生的细胞和分子变化的详细了解，限制了有效治疗的设计。Li及其同事使用大鼠脊髓损伤模型和体内显微镜检查发现，周细胞在病变部位以下脊髓的毛细管张力和血流的调节中起着关键作用。令人惊讶的是，脊髓损伤后周细胞表达的特定蛋白质的抑制作用减少了缺氧，改善了受损大鼠的运动功能和运动能力。这项工作突出了可能在药理学上针对脊髓损伤患者的新型中央细胞群。这项研究中出现的新知识可能会为脊髓损伤的治疗提供新的方法。