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Page 12 of 15 Kaya et al. Neuroimmunol Neuroinflammation 2019;6:5 I http://dx.doi.org/10.20517/2347-8659.2018.70

It is important to remember that Speedy/RINGO’s anti-apoptotic function in neurons and astrocytes may
be advantageous or disadvantageous depending on the cell type and function in SCI. Speedy/RINGO’s anti-
apoptotic function is desirable in neurons, but undesirable for astrocytes, since it causes glial scar formation
and thereby prevents axonal regeneration. In developing an effective SCI recovery regimen, Speedy/RINGO
will need to be regulated differentially depending on the therapeutic target.

The pathophysiology of SCI has not yet been fully elucidated, making it difficult to develop effective
treatment methods. Overcoming this problem will require collaboration between basic and clinical
researchers. Basic research must take place to gain a clear understanding of the basic neuronal and glial
mechanisms seen in SCI before these mechanisms can be linked to clinical SCI symptoms and recovery.
Versatile molecules like Speedy/RINGO are an excellent tool for increasing our understanding of the
molecular mechanisms of SCI with the goal of developing effective treatment strategies.

DECLARATIONS
Acknowledgments
We sincerely thank Prof. Arzu Karabay for her invaluable contributions as an advisor to our studies on
primary hippocampal neurons. We are grateful to Prof. Daniel J. Donoghue for his generous gift of myc-
tagged Speedy A-pCS3 construct for neuronal transfection studies. We also warmly thank Sharon Page for
editing this paper.

Authors’ contributions
Made substantial contributions to the conception and design of the study, performed data analysis and
interpretation, and wrote the paper: Yildiz A
Performed data acquisition and provided technical support: Kaya Y

Availability of data and materials
Not applicable.

Financial support and sponsorship
Studies mentioned here that were performed in our laboratory were supported by grants to Ayşegül Yıldız
from Mugla Sitki Kocman University Scientific Research Project Office, Research and Development Projects
(17/023), to Arzu Karabay from The Turkish Academy of Sciences Distinguished Young Scientist Award
(TÜBA-GEBIP), and The Scientific and Technological Research Council of Turkey (TÜBİTAK), The Basic
Sciences Research Group (TBAG) (108T811).

Conflicts of interest
Both authors declared that there are no conflicts of interest.

Ethical approval and consent to participate
Not applicable.

Consent for publication
Not applicable.

Copyright
© The Author(s) 2019.

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