AUTHOR=Alilain Warren J., Silver Jerry TITLE=Shedding light on restoring respiratory function after spinal cord injury JOURNAL=Frontiers in Molecular Neuroscience VOLUME=2 YEAR=2009 URL=https://www.frontiersin.org/journals/molecular-neuroscience/articles/10.3389/neuro.02.018.2009 DOI=10.3389/neuro.02.018.2009 ISSN=1662-5099 ABSTRACT=

Loss of respiratory function is one of the leading causes of death following spinal cord injury. Because of this, much work has been done in studying ways to restore respiratory function following spinal cord injury (SCI) – including pharmacological and regeneration strategies. With the emergence of new and powerful tools from molecular neuroscience, new therapeutically relevant alternatives to these approaches have become available, including expression of light sensitive proteins called channelrhodopsins. In this article we briefly review the history of various attempts to restore breathing after C2 hemisection, and focus on our recent work using the activation of light sensitive channels to restore respiratory function after experimental SCI. We also discuss how such light-induced activity can help shed light on the inner workings of the central nervous system respiratory circuitry that controls diaphragmatic function.