Activated RHOA and peripheral axon regeneration

The regeneration of adult peripheral neurons after transection is slow, incomplete and encumbered by severe barriers to proper regrowth. The role of RHOA GTPase has not been examined in this context. We examined the expression, activity and functional role of RHOA GTPase and its ROK effector, inhibitors of regeneration, during peripheral axon outgrowth. We used qRT-PCR, quantitative immunohistochemistry, and assays of RHOA activation to examine expression in sensory neurons of rats with sciatic transection injuries. In vitro, we exposed dissociated adult sensory neurons, not grown on inhibitory substrates, to a RHOA-ROK inhibitor HA-1077 and measured neurite initiation and outgrowth. In vivo, we exposed early regenerating axons and Schwann cells directly to HA-1077 in a conduit connecting the proximal and distal stumps of transected sciatic nerves. Intact adult dorsal root ganglia sensory neurons expressed RHOA and ROK 1 mRNAs and protein and there were rises in RHOA after injury. Activated GTP-bound RHOA, undetectable in intact ganglia, was dramatically upregulated in both neurons and axons after injury. Adult rat sensory neurons in vitro demonstrated a dose-related increase in the initiation of neurite outgrowth, and in the proportion with long neurites when they were exposed to a ROK antagonist. Regenerative bridges that were directly exposed to the ROK inhibitor had a dose-related rise in the extent and distance of in vivo axon and partnered Schwann cell regrowth within them. RHOA activation and signaling are features of adult peripheral axon regeneration within its own milieu, independent of myelin. Inhibition of its activation may benefit peripheral axon lesions.