Long-Distance Axonal Regeneration in the Filum Terminale of Adult Rats Is Regulated by Ependymal Cells

Studies of regeneration of transected adult central nervous system (CNS) axons are difficult due to lack of appropriate in vivo models. In adult rats, we described filum terminale (FT), a caudal slender extension of the sacral spinal cord and an integral part of the central nervous system (CNS), to use it as a model of spinal cord injury. FT is more than 3 cm long, encompasses a central canal lined with ependymal cells surrounded by a narrow …