Effect of 1-deoxy-nor-sominone (Denosomin) on functional recovery of the injured spinal cord

In this study, we clarified that a novel compound, 1-deoxy-nor-sominone (Denosomin) ameliorates spinal cord injury (SCI) via axonal growth associated with astrocyte-secreted vimentin. Denosomin increased astroglial proliferation, inhibited astroglial death and increased the secretion of vimentin in cultured astrocytes. Furthermore, vimentin promoted axonal outgrowth in cultured neurons. This study is the first to demonstrate this novel role of vimentin in SCI and drug-mediated modification of the property of reactive astrocytes.