Brügger, Valérie Duman, Mert Bochud, Maëlle Münger, Emmanuelle Heller, Manfred Ruff, Sophie Jacob, Claire 2017-01-31 The peripheral nervous system (PNS) regenerates after injury. However, regeneration is often compromised in the case of large lesions, and the speed of axon reconnection to their target is critical for successful functional recovery. After injury, mature Schwann cells (SCs) convert into repair cells that foster axonal regrowth, and redifferentiate to rebuild myelin. These processes require the regulation of several transcription factors, but the driving mechanisms remain partially understood. Here we identify an early response to nerve injury controlled by histone deacetylase 2 (HDAC2), which coordinates the action of other chromatin-remodelling enzymes to induce the upregulation of Oct6, a key transcription factor for SC development. Inactivating this mechanism using mouse genetics allows earlier conversion into repair cells and leads to faster axonal regrowth, but impairs remyelination. Consistently, short-term HDAC1/2 inhibitor treatment early after lesion accelerates functional recovery and enhances regeneration, thereby identifying a new therapeutic strategy to improve PNS regeneration after lesion. application/pdf https://folia.unifr.ch/global/documents/305428 https://folia.unifr.ch/documents/305428/files/jac_dhd.pdf eng info:eu-repo/semantics/altIdentifier/doi/10.1038/ncomms14272 info:eu-repo/semantics/openAccess License undefined Nature Communications. - 2017, vol. 8, p. 14272 info:eu-repo/classification/udc/57 Delaying histone deacetylase response to injury accelerates conversion into repair Schwann cells and nerve regeneration http://purl.org/coar/resource_type/c_6501