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Simulated closed-loop magnetic stimulation promotes function recovery and axonal regeneration in spinal cord injury
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  • Published: 18 March 2026

Simulated closed-loop magnetic stimulation promotes function recovery and axonal regeneration in spinal cord injury

  • Lechi Zhang1,2,3 na1,
  • Zhihang Xiao1,2 na1,
  • Chunya Xia1,2,
  • Tingting Li1,2,
  • Zelin Su1,2,
  • Yingjie Fan1,2,
  • Xuyan Ren1,2,
  • Yaobo Liu  ORCID: orcid.org/0000-0002-7663-56491,2,4,5 &
  • …
  • Min Su  ORCID: orcid.org/0000-0002-3440-00081,2 

Communications Biology , Article number:  (2026) Cite this article

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We are providing an unedited version of this manuscript to give early access to its findings. Before final publication, the manuscript will undergo further editing. Please note there may be errors present which affect the content, and all legal disclaimers apply.

Subjects

  • Neural circuits
  • Neurophysiology
  • Spinal cord injury

Abstract

Spinal cord injury (SCI) represents significant central nervous system trauma and has consistently been a focal point of research in the domain of neural regeneration and repair. Currently, there is no effective treatment available. Various modalities of magnetic stimulation have emerged for recovery from spinal cord injuries; however, the underlying mechanisms remain unclear, significantly hindering the application of magnetic stimulation technologies in treating such injuries. This study aims to elucidate these relevant mechanisms by establishing a simulated closed-loop magnetic stimulation system. In this study, we established a right hemisection model at T8 in mice and administered continuous simulated closed-loop magnetic stimulation targeting the left motor cortex and right L5 nerve root over six weeks. We subsequently utilized a spinal cord dorsal hemisection model to examine regeneration of the corticospinal tract (CST). Motor-evoked potential assessments and calcium imaging techniques were employed to explore neural circuit repair. Additionally, we integrated transcriptomics, proteomics, and metabolomics approaches to investigate related mechanisms. The findings indicate that simulated closed-loop magnetic stimulation effectively restores motor function in the hind limbs, promotes the regeneration of corticospinal tracts in mice with spinal cord injuries, and facilitates the reconstruction of sensorimotor circuits and functions within the spinal cord. Simulated closed-loop magnetic stimulation significantly enhances axonal regeneration of the CST following SCI. This effect may be mediated through the activation of the AMPK-CREB-BDNF signaling pathway, which promotes neurotrophic factor secretion and subsequently induces nerve axon regeneration. This study suggests that simulated closed-loop magnetic stimulation represents a promising therapeutic approach for the treatment for impaired gait following SCI.

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Data availability

Data are available in the main text, Supplementary Information and Supplementary Data 1 and 2. Figures and source data generated in this study have been deposited in the Figshare database. [https://doi.org/10.6084/m9.figshare.31156990]. The proteomics data have been deposited to the ProteomeXchange Consortium [https://proteomecentral.proteomexchange.org] with the dataset identifier PXD073949. The transcriptomics data are available in the NCBI Sequence Read Archive (SRA) under BioProject accession PRJNA1418102. Any additional requests for information can be directed to and will be fulfilled by the corresponding authors.

Code availability

Analysis code in this study have been archived in Zenodo82.

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Acknowledgements

This research was supported by the National Key Research and Development Program of China (2022YFC2009700, 2023YFC2412502, 2023YFC2306502), the National Natural Science Foundation of China (82272594, U25A2053, 82171376), a project funded by the Priority Academic Program Development of Jiangsu Higher Education Institutions, and the Key Research and Development Plan of Jiangsu Province (BE2023701), the Suzhou Medical-Engineering Collaborative Innovation Research Project (SZM2023004), the Keyuan High-level Talent Support Program of Suzhou Medical College, Soochow University (MA21500124), the Nanjing Medical University Science and Technology Development Fund Project (NMUB20230229) and the Suzhou Municipal “Science and Education for Strengthening Healthcare” Youth Program (No. QNXM2025042).

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  1. These authors contributed equally: Lechi Zhang, Zhihang Xiao.

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Rehabilitation Medicine, The Fourth Affiliated Hospital of Soochow University, Suzhou, China

    Lechi Zhang, Zhihang Xiao, Chunya Xia, Tingting Li, Zelin Su, Yingjie Fan, Xuyan Ren, Yaobo Liu & Min Su

  2. Institute of Rehabilitation, Soochow University, Suzhou, China

    Lechi Zhang, Zhihang Xiao, Chunya Xia, Tingting Li, Zelin Su, Yingjie Fan, Xuyan Ren, Yaobo Liu & Min Su

  3. Department of Rehabilitation Medicine, The Affiliated Suzhou Hospital of Nanjing Medical University, Suzhou Rehabilitation Hospital, Suzhou, China

    Lechi Zhang

  4. Jiangsu Key Laboratory of Drug Discovery and Translational Research for Brain Diseases, Institute of Neuroscience, Soochow University, Suzhou, China

    Yaobo Liu

  5. Co-innovation Center of Neuroregeneration, Nantong University, Nantong, China

    Yaobo Liu

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Contributions

Lechi Zhang and Zhihang Xiao prepared the manuscript and performed the experiments. Chunya Xia, Tingting Li, Zelin Su, Xuyan Ren, and Yingjie Fan collected the data and performed the statistical analysis. Min Su and Yaobo Liu supervised the project and edited the manuscript.

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Zhang, L., Xiao, Z., Xia, C. et al. Simulated closed-loop magnetic stimulation promotes function recovery and axonal regeneration in spinal cord injury. Commun Biol (2026). https://doi.org/10.1038/s42003-026-09848-9

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  • Received: 21 May 2025

  • Accepted: 02 March 2026

  • Published: 18 March 2026

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/s42003-026-09848-9

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