New Frontiers in the Regeneration of the Nervous System Connectivity

Nervous system traumas and neurodegenerative diseases are major health issues and are amongst the main causes of permanent adult disabilities and even death worldwide. Peripheral damage causes cell death, demyelination, axonal degeneration and cavitation in the central nervous system, and nerve gaps in the peripheral nervous system. Neuronal projections of the central nervous system lack the ability to regenerate due to extrinsic factors and the absence of intrinsic programs. In turn, even though the injured peripheral nervous system displays comparatively higher regenerative properties, these capabilities rely on the denervation time frame and on permissive environmental niches. Due to the negative consequences associated with the failure to repair the nervous tissue, there is an urgent need for basic research aiming at developing new therapies for nervous system regeneration.

In light of this, we consider it timely to bring together new evidence and efforts to regenerate the nervous system in order to functionally repair the precise contacts between neurons and their synaptic partners. Therefore, this Research Topic issue expects to host review, research, and hypotheses articles, to cover new avenues towards nervous system regeneration. Diverse model systems are welcome as well as different cellular, biochemical and molecular approaches. Altogether, they will contribute in different and complementary ways to update a holistic view of crucial issues involved in the regeneration of the nervous system, from the essential molecules and genetic programs involved in its de/regeneration, to the wide variety of efforts to create regenerative environments to allow functional repair of the neuronal connectivity.