Sciatic Nerve Injury Triggered Inflammation: Insights into Conditioning-Lesion Induced Axon Regeneration [bulk RNA-seq]

Sciatic nerve crush (SNC) triggers sterile inflammation within the distal nerve and deafferented dorsal root ganglia (DRGs). Granulocytes and pro-inflammatory Ly6Chigh monocytes infiltrate the nerve first, and rapidly give way to Ly6C- inflammation-resolving macrophages. Inflammation in DRGs is dominated by tissue resident macrophages, with little contribution from hematogenous leukocytes. Single-cell transcriptomics analysis of injured nerve identified six macrophage subpopulations, repair Schwann cells, and mesenchymal cells as the main cell types. Macrophages at the nerve crush site are distinct from macrophages associated with degenerating nerve fibers. Monocytes and macrophages in the injured nerve “eat” cell corpses of apoptotic leukocytes and thereby promote an anti-inflammatory milieu. Myeloid cells in the injured nerve, but not DRGs, strongly express the receptor for the chemokine GM-CSF. In the absence of GM-CSF, conditioning-lesion induced regeneration of DRG neuron central projections is abolished. Thus, a carefully orchestrated immune response in the nerve is required for conditioning-lesion induced neurorepair. Overall design: Comparative analysis of transciptomic changes in the sciatic nerve and lumbar (L) 3-5 DRGs following sciatic nerve crush