Single-cell analysis reveals region-heterogeneous responses in rhesus monkey spinal cord with complete injury

Abstract

Spinal cord injury (SCI) leads to severe sensory and motor dysfunction below the lesion. However, the cellular dynamic responses and heterogeneity across different regions below the lesion remain to be elusive. Here, we used single-cell transcriptomics to investigate the region-related cellular responses in female rhesus monkeys with complete thoracic SCI from acute to chronic phases. We found that distal lumbar tissue cells were severely impacted, leading to degenerative microenvironments characterized by disease-associated microglia and oligodendrocytes activation alongside increased inhibitory interneurons proportion following SCI. By implanting scaffold into the injury sites, we could improve the injury microenvironment through glial cells and fibroblast regulation while remodeling spared lumbar tissues via reduced inhibitory neurons proportion and improved phagocytosis and myelination. Our findings offer crucial pathological insights into the spared distal tissues and proximal tissues after SCI, emphasizing the importance of scaffold-based treatment approaches targeting heterogeneous microenvironments.