Bo Chen, PhDAssistant Professor

Department of Neurobiology
Room 4.212D Research Building 17
Route: 0620 | Tel: (409) 747-2214 | bochen1@utmb.edu

Education and Training
B.Sc. Biological science, University of Birmingham, Birmingham, U.K.
M.Sc. Biomedical science, Durham University, Durham, U.K.
Ph.D. Applied biomedical science, University of Reading, Reading, U.K.
Postdoctoral training, Boston Children’s Hospital, Harvard Medical School, Boston, U.S. 

Research interests: Searching for new strategies to promote functional recovery after spinal cord injury

Spinal cord injury (SCI) has an immediate and profound impact on control essential physiological functions, including behavior, sensation, and autonomic functions. Despite significant advances over the past century that have transformed SCI clinical management, no randomized clinical trial has yet proven the efficacy of a repair strategy to improve functional recovery post-SCI. This underscores the urgent need for new therapeutic strategies.

Our research goals are twofold:

  1. To develop innovative methods to systematically examine pathological changes in spinal neurons, spinal circuits, and physiological functions post-SCI.
  2. To create translational treatments aimed at enhancing functional connections between the brain and the spinal cord to promote recovery.

Our recent studies, summarized in the figure below, leverage multidisciplinary approaches that enable us to:

  1. Visualize and manipulate specific types of neurons and their projections in the spinal cord.
  2. Investigate the functions of certain neuronal populations within the brain and spinal cord in controlling animal behavior.
  3. Capture and analyze mouse behaviors with high resolution.

Collectively, these efforts aim to elucidate the linear relationship from individual neurons to complex animal behaviors. This research may provide new insights into the mechanisms regulating the functionality of injured spinal circuits and explore innovative strategies to enhance functional recovery post-SCI.


Figure legend: 

(A) Schematic of staggered lateral hemisections at T7 and T10. Arrowheads indicate lesions.
(B) Representative 3D image of cleared Vglut2L10a-EGFP spinal cord section 8 weeks after overstagger lesion. 
(C) Representative image stacks of anti-5HT-stained transverse sections from T5 (rostral to lesions), T8 (between lesions), and L2 (caudal to lesions) of mice at2 weeks after staggered lesions. Scale bar, 100mm
(D) Study 1: Reactive of dormant relay pathways in injured spinal cord by restoring KCC2 functionality (pictures are adapted from graphic abstract of Chen et al., Cell, 2018.  
(E) Study 2: Improving hindlimb locomotor function by Non-invasive AAV-mediated manipulations of propriospinal neurons in mice with complete spinal cord injury. (Picture adapted from figures of Brommer et al., Nat. Comm. 2021). 
(F) Study 3: Reduction of prolonged excitatory neuron swelling after spinal cord injury improves locomotor recovery in mice. (Pictures adapted from figures of Li et al., Sci. Trans. Med., 2024).

 

Selected Publications:

Li Q., Sandoval, A., Moth, J., Shang, J., Liew, J. Y., Dunn, J., Yang Z., Su J., Henwood, M., Williams P., and Chen, B*. (2024) Reduction of prolonged excitatory neuron swelling after spinal cord injury improves locomotor recovery in mice. Science translational medicine. 16, eadn7095.

Li Q., Sandoval* Jr A, Chen* B (2023) Advancing spinal cord injury research with optical clearing, light sheet microscopy, and artificial intelligence-based image analysis. Neural Regen Res 18(12):2661-2662.

Sandoval, A., He, Z*., & Chen, B*. Propriospinal neurons as relay pathways from brain to spinal cord. In Spinal Interneurons (pp. 207–225). Elsevier. https://doi.org/10.1016/B978-0-12-819260-3.00013-5  (2023).

Yu, H. et al. Chen B*. Pipeline for fluorescent imaging and volumetric analysis of neurons in cleared mouse spinal cords. STAR Protoc 3, 101759 (2022).

Brommer, B., et al., Chen. B.* and He, Z.*. Improving hindlimb locomotor function by Non-invasive AAV-mediated manipulations of propriospinal neurons in mice with complete spinal cord injury. Nat. Commun. 2–15. (2021)

Li, Y., He, X., Kawaguchi, R., Zhang, Y., Wang. Q., Monavarfeshani, A., Yang, Z., Chen, B., Shi, Z., Meng, H., Zhou, S., Zhu, J., Jacobi, A., Swarup, V., Popvich, P., Geschwind, D. and He. Z*. Microglia-organized scar-free spinal cord repair in neonatal mice. Nature. 587, 613–618. (2020).

Chen, B., Li, Y., Yu, B., Zhang, Z., Brommer, B., Williams, P.R., Liu, Y., Hegarty, S.V., Zhou, S., Zhu, J., et al. (2018). Reactivation of Dormant Relay Pathways in Injured Spinal Cord by KCC2 Manipulations. Cell 174, 521-535.e13.

Liu, Y., Wang, X., Li, W., Zhang, Q., Li, Y., Zhang, Z., Zhu, J., Chen, B., Williams, P.R., Zhang, Y., et al. (2017). A Sensitized IGF1 Treatment Restores Corticospinal Axon-Dependent Functions. Neuron 95, 817-833.e4.