{
  "abstract": "Background: Proper excitability of spinal motor neurons (MNs) is essential for motor output. Spinal cord injury (SCI) disrupts this network and compromises MN- driven skeletal muscle contractions. We previously showed that tracer-identified MNs innervating ankle extensor and flexor muscles display gene-expression changes toward a more excitatory profile at 2 weeks post-lesion in rats, however, this shift does not restore stepping. Given evidence that brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF) enhances MN excitability and promotes functional recovery, we investigated its effects on gene expression following SCI.\n\nMethods: Adult male rats received retrograde tracers in gastrocnemius lateralis (GL) and tibialis anterior (TA) muscles. Two weeks later, complete low-thoracic transection was followed by bilateral lumbar L1-L2 injection of AAV-BDNF or PBS. Locomotion was assessed on a treadmill and in an open field. BDNF and TrkB transcripts were assessed by RNAscope, while selected receptor, transporter, and ion-channel transcripts were measured in lumbar segments and laser-microdissected GL and TA MNs by RT-qPCR.\n\nResults: At two weeks, AAV-BDNF increased spinal BDNF transcript levels and restored TrkB transcripts in lumbar MNs. It improved treadmill locomotion with plantar placement, alternating step-like movements, and body-weight support, while open-field hindlimb movements were also improved. BDNF selectively increased Htr2a transcripts, particularly in GL MNs, and reduced glycine receptor subunit transcripts. It also reversed SCT-induced Scn1a upregulation in GL and TA MNs. Changes in glutamatergic and GABAA receptor transcripts were selective and MN-population dependent.\n\nConclusions: These findings show that intraspinal AAV-BDNF is associated with locomotor recovery and transcriptional changes in MN excitability-related genes. The results support a role for BDNF in spinal circuit reactivation after SCT.\n\nSupplementary Information: The online version contains supplementary material available at https://doi.org/10.1007/s11033-026-12984-4.",
  "abstract_shown": true,
  "affiliations": [
    "Nencki Institute of Experimental Biology Polish Academy of Sciences, 3 Pasteur Street, Warsaw, 02-093 Poland",
    "Key Laboratory of Spine and Spinal Cord Injury Repair and Regeneration of Ministry of Education, School of Life Sciences and Technology, Tongji University, Shanghai, 200065 China",
    "Mossakowski Medical Research Institute, Neurotoxicology Department, Polish Academy of Sciences, 5 Adolfa Pawińskiego Street, Warsaw, 02-106 Poland"
  ],
  "article_type": "research article",
  "arxiv": null,
  "author_total": 5,
  "authors": [
    {
      "affs": [
        0,
        1
      ],
      "name": "Benjun Ji",
      "orcid": "0000-0002-9501-5496"
    },
    {
      "affs": [
        0
      ],
      "name": "Anna Głowacka",
      "orcid": "0000-0001-9223-5226"
    },
    {
      "affs": [
        0
      ],
      "name": "Julita Czarkowska-Bauch",
      "orcid": "0000-0002-1793-5369"
    },
    {
      "affs": [
        0,
        2
      ],
      "name": "Olga Gajewska-Woźniak",
      "orcid": "0000-0003-3529-5788"
    },
    {
      "affs": [
        0
      ],
      "name": "Małgorzata Skup",
      "orcid": "0000-0002-2605-0124"
    }
  ],
  "bibtex": "https://research.draconitic.com/paper/fwvjsgd80emwv.bib",
  "cited_by": 0,
  "doi": "10.1007/s11033-026-12984-4",
  "fulltext_url": "https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC13724633/",
  "id": "fwvjsgd80emwv",
  "issns": [
    "0301-4851",
    "1573-4978"
  ],
  "landing_url": "https://doi.org/10.1007/s11033-026-12984-4",
  "language": "en",
  "licence": "CC-BY-4.0",
  "licence_label": "CC BY 4.0",
  "licence_source": "article",
  "licence_url": "https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/",
  "metadata_licence": null,
  "native_subjects": [
    [
      "heading",
      "Original Article"
    ],
    [
      "openalex",
      "2734|Spinal Cord Injury Research"
    ]
  ],
  "openalex": "W4415693751",
  "pdf_url": "https://link.springer.com/content/pdf/10.1007/s11033-026-12984-4.pdf",
  "pmcid": "PMC13724633",
  "pmid": "42967264",
  "published": "2026-11-01",
  "publisher": null,
  "ris": "https://research.draconitic.com/paper/fwvjsgd80emwv.ris",
  "sources": [
    {
      "first_seen": "2026-11-04T12:23:10Z",
      "native_id": "PMC13724633",
      "source": "pmc",
      "url": "https://doi.org/10.1007/s11033-026-12984-4"
    }
  ],
  "subjects": [
    {
      "field": "medicine",
      "origin": "openalex:2734|Spinal Cord Injury Research",
      "subfield": "general"
    }
  ],
  "title": "AAV-BDNF modulates 5HT2A receptor, glycine receptor subunits, and Nav1.1 channel gene expression in lumbar motoneurons after spinal cord injury",
  "title_text": "AAV-BDNF modulates 5HT2A receptor, glycine receptor subunits, and Nav1.1 channel gene expression in lumbar motoneurons after spinal cord injury",
  "type": "peer-reviewed",
  "updated_at": "2026-11-06T12:21:03Z",
  "url": "https://research.draconitic.com/paper/fwvjsgd80emwv",
  "venue": "Molecular Biology Reports",
  "versions": []
}