ABSTRACT: A screen of 5 anti-inflammatory compounds for their effects in explanted, cultured rat spinal cord slices. All injured (explanted) cords are cultured for 4 hrs. Keywords: ordered
Project description:A screen of 5 anti-inflammatory compounds for their effects in explanted, cultured rat spinal cord slices. All injured (explanted) cords are cultured for 4 hrs.
Project description:Mice lacking the developmental axon guidance molecule EphA4 have previously been shown to exhibit extensive axonal regeneration and functional recovery following spinal cord injury. To assess mechanisms by which EphA4 may modify the response to neural injury, a microarray was performed on spinal cord tissue from mice with spinal cord injury and sham injured controls. RNA was purified from spinal cords of adult EphA4 knockout and wild-type mice four days following lumbar spinal cord hemisection or laminectomy only and was hybridised to Affymetrix All-Exon Array 1.0 GeneChips. While subsequent analyses indicated that several pathways were altered in EphA4 knockout mice, of particular interest was the attenuated or otherwise altered expression of a number of inflammatory genes, including Arginase 1, expression of which was lower in injured EphA4 knockout compared to wild-type mice. Immunohistological analyses of different cellular components of the immune response were then performed in injured EphA4 knockout and wild-type spinal cords. While numbers of infiltrating CD3+ T cells were low in the hemisection model, a robust CD11b+ macrophage / microglial response was observed post-injury. There was no difference in the overall number or spread of macrophages / activated microglia in injured EphA4 knockout compared to wild-type spinal cords at two, four or fourteen days post-injury, however a lower proportion of Arginase-1 immunoreactive macrophages / activated microglia was observed in EphA4 knockout spinal cords at four days post-injury. Subtle alterations in the neuroinflammatory response in injured EphA4 knockout spinal cords may contribute to the regeneration and recovery observed in these mice following injury. Comparison was made between gene expression in wild-type and knockout samples both before and after injury. 3 replicates per group.
Project description:The spinal cord after injury shows altered transcription in numerous genes. We tested in a pilot study whether the nucleus raphé magnus, a descending serotonergic brainstem region whose stimulation improves recovery after incomplete spinal cord injury, can influence these transcriptional changes. Rats received 2 hours of low-frequency electrical stimulation in the raphé magnus three days after an impact contusion at segment T8. Comparison groups lacked injuries or activated stimulators or both. Immediately following stimulation, spinal cords were extracted, their RNA transcriptome sequenced, and differential gene expression quantified. Confirming many previous studies, injury primarily increased inflammatory and immune transcripts and decreased those related to lipid and cholesterol synthesis and neuronal signaling. Stimulation plus injury, contrasted with injury alone, caused significant changes in 43 transcripts (39 increases, 4 decreases), all protein-coding. Injury itself decreased only four of these 43 transcripts, all reversed by stimulation, and increased none of them. The non-specific 5-HT7 receptor antagonist pimozide reversed 25 of the 43 changes. Stimulation in intact rats principally caused decreases in transcripts related to oxidative phosphorylation, none of which were altered by stimulation in injury. Gene ontology (biological process) annotations comparing stimulation with either no stimulation or pimozide treatment in injured rats highlighted defense responses to lipopolysaccharides and microorganisms, and also erythrocyte development and oxygen transport (possibly yielding cellular oxidant detoxification). Connectivity maps of human orthologous genes generated in the CLUE database of perturbagen-response transcriptional signatures showed that drug classes whose effects in injured rats most closely resembled stimulation without pimozide include peroxisome proliferator-activated receptor agonists and angiotensin receptor blockers, which are reportedly beneficial in spinal cord injury. Thus, the initial transcriptional response of injured spinal cord to raphé magnus stimulation is upregulation of genes that in various ways are mostly protective, some probably located in recently arrived myeloid cells.
Project description:We performed single cell RNA sequencing to examine the reaction of a subpopulation of ependymal cells, EpA cells, to spinal cord injury. The experiment contains cells from spinal cords of Troy-CreERT2 mice on a Rosa26-tdTomato background. The spinal cord samples come from uninjured and injured spinal cords (3 days after injury).
Project description:Mice lacking the developmental axon guidance molecule EphA4 have previously been shown to exhibit extensive axonal regeneration and functional recovery following spinal cord injury. To assess mechanisms by which EphA4 may modify the response to neural injury, a microarray was performed on spinal cord tissue from mice with spinal cord injury and sham injured controls. RNA was purified from spinal cords of adult EphA4 knockout and wild-type mice four days following lumbar spinal cord hemisection or laminectomy only and was hybridised to Affymetrix All-Exon Array 1.0 GeneChips. While subsequent analyses indicated that several pathways were altered in EphA4 knockout mice, of particular interest was the attenuated or otherwise altered expression of a number of inflammatory genes, including Arginase 1, expression of which was lower in injured EphA4 knockout compared to wild-type mice. Immunohistological analyses of different cellular components of the immune response were then performed in injured EphA4 knockout and wild-type spinal cords. While numbers of infiltrating CD3+ T cells were low in the hemisection model, a robust CD11b+ macrophage / microglial response was observed post-injury. There was no difference in the overall number or spread of macrophages / activated microglia in injured EphA4 knockout compared to wild-type spinal cords at two, four or fourteen days post-injury, however a lower proportion of Arginase-1 immunoreactive macrophages / activated microglia was observed in EphA4 knockout spinal cords at four days post-injury. Subtle alterations in the neuroinflammatory response in injured EphA4 knockout spinal cords may contribute to the regeneration and recovery observed in these mice following injury.
Project description:Retinoic acid receptor beta (RARbeta) is an emerging therapeutic target for spinal cord injuries (SCIs) with a unique multimodal mode of action. We have developed a first in class RARbeta agonist drug, C286, with demonstrated safety in a Phase 1 trial and proven efficacy in a sensory root avulsion rat model. Using genome-wide and pathway enrichment analysis in spinal cords of avulsed rats we show that C286 modulates regenerative pathways amongst which extracellular matrix (ECM) and adhesion molecules were of note. Protein expression analysis showed that C286 upregulates tenascin-C, integrin alpha9 and osteopontin in the injured cord. We further demonstrate the drug's efficacy in a rodent model of spinal cord contusion where it remodulates ECM molecules, hampers inflammation and prevents tissue loss. Treatment with the agonist induced upregulation of RARbeta in dorsal root and spinal neurons. In the single ascending dose (SAD) cohorts in white blood cells from healthy human participants RARbeta2 expression increases with dose and at the highest dose administered the pharmacokinetics are similar to doses used in rat proof of concept (POC) studies. We also show plasma S100B in nerve injured rats as a correlative measure of axonal regeneration. Finally, comparison with other clinically available retinoids which are non RARbeta selective showed these were ineffective in aiding regain of function in avulsed rats. Taken together our data suggests that further clinical testing of C286 in POC trials is justifiable for a broad spectrum of SCIs
Project description:This submission is a dataset of single-nucleus multi-omics of uninjured and injured spinal cords of mice harvested and profiled using 10x Multiome ATAC + Gene Expression kit.
Project description:This laboratory works on selectins and their carbohydrate ligands in lymphocyte homing and inflammation. The lab also studies heparin-degrading endosulfatases and their roles in regulating the interactions of growth factors and morphogens with proteoglycans. The purpose of the experiment is to examine gene expression profiles in spinal cords of injured as a function of time after a contusion injury. The tissue will be generated in the lab of Linda Noble, Professor in the Department of Neurological Surgery at UCSF who is an expert on the pathogenesis of spinal cord injury. Wild-type male C57B/6 mice (8-10 weeks of age) were used. Injuries were produced by contusion. Spinal cords from control mice (uninjured) and experimental (injured) mice were processed (4 and 7 days after injury). A 3 mm length of spinal cord (centered at the injury) and a 3 mm segment from a distant site were isolated from each animal. Tissue from 3 mice were pooled for each sample. Three replicate samples per treatment group were processed for RNA. Thus, a total of 18 RNA samples were hybridized to 18 gene chips. The analysis will determine whether specific glycosylation changes accompany spinal cord injury. Of particular interest are changes in the sulfation profile of proteoglycan GAG chains (e.g., chondroitin sulfate) and in the appearance of potential carbohydrate ligands for infiltrating leukocytes bearing L-selectin or other endogenous lectins.