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Updated: Sep 5, 2025

Facial Nerve Axotomy in Mice: A Model to Study Motoneuron Response to Injury
Published on: February 23, 2015
Events Occurring in the Axotomized Facial Nucleus
Kazuyuki Nakajima1,2, Takashi Ishijima1
1Graduate School of Science and Engineering, Soka University, 1-236 Tangi-machi, Tokyo 192-8577, Japan.
Abstract:
Transection of the rat facial nerve leads to a variety of alterations not only in motoneurons, but also in glial cells and inhibitory neurons in the ipsilateral facial nucleus. In injured motoneurons, the levels of energy metabolism-related molecules are elevated, while those of neurofunction-related molecules are decreased. In tandem with these motoneuron changes, microglia are activated and start to proliferate around injured motoneurons, and astrocytes become activated for a long period without mitosis. Inhibitory GABAergic neurons reduce the levels of neurofunction-related molecules. These facts indicate that injured motoneurons somehow closely interact with glial cells and inhibitory neurons. At the same time, these events allow us to predict the occurrence of tissue remodeling in the axotomized facial nucleus. This review summarizes the events occurring in the axotomized facial nucleus and the cellular and molecular mechanisms associated with each event.
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