the FP region, gliogenesis is activated and glial cells begin migrating to their targeted destinations to function. Spinal cord injury and axon regeneration The floor plate region aids in axon guidance, glial fate mapping, and embryogenesis. If this area of the spinal cord becomes injured, there could be serious complications to all contributing functions of this region, namely limited proliferation and production of the glial cells responsible for myelination and phagocytosis in the CNS. Spinal cord injury (SCI) also most often results in axon denudation or severance. Wnt signaling is a common signaling pathway involved in injury cases. Wnt signaling regulates regeneration after spinal cord injury. Immediately following injury, Wnt expression dramatically increases. Axon guidance is driven by Netrin-1 in the FP region of the spinal cord. During injury cases, specifically cases of axon severance, Wnt signaling is upregulated and axons begin to initiate regeneration and the axons are reguided through the FP regions using Shh and Wnt signaling pathways. The spinal cord ependymal cells also reside in the FP region of the spinal cord. These cells are a neural stem cell population responsible for repopulating lost cells during injury. These cells have the capacity to differentiate into progenitor glial populations. During injury, a factor entitled Akhirin is secreted in the FP region. During spinal cord development, Akhirin is expressed solely on ependymal stem cells with latent stem cell properties and plays a key role in the development of the spinal cord. In the absence of Akhirin, stemness of these ependymal cells is not regulated. Injury compromises Akhirin expression and regulation and the cells of the FP region cannot properly be restored by the ependymal stem cell populations. References Developmental neuroscience Vertebrate anatomy