Project description:A subpopulation of pericytes expressing the Glast-CreERT2 transgene (Type A pericytes) has recently been identified as the main source of stromal scar tissue that forms after SCI. Identification of molecules associated with pericyte-derived scarring may offer new therapeutic targets to facilitate axon regeneration following central nervous system (CNS) injury. We conducted genome-wide RNA sequencing of (i) uninjured spinal cord segments and (ii) lesion sites presenting full or attenuated pericyte-derived scarring 14 days after SCI.
Project description:Summary: Spinal cord injury (SCI) is a damage to the spinal cord induced by trauma or disease resulting in a loss of mobility or feeling. SCI is characterized by a primary mechanical injury followed by a secondary injury in which several molecular events are altered in the spinal cord often resulting in loss of neuronal function. Analysis of the areas directly (spinal cord) and indirectly (raphe and sensorimotor cortex) affected by injury will help understanding mechanisms of SCI. Hypothesis: Areas of the brain primarily affected by spinal cord injury are the Raphe and the Sensorimotor cortex thus gene expression profiling these two areas might contribute understanding the mechanisms of spinal cord injury. Specific Aim: The project aims at finding significantly altered genes in the Raphe and Sensorimotor cortex following an induced moderate spinal cord injury in T9.
Project description:Summary: Spinal cord injury (SCI) is a damage to the spinal cord induced by trauma or disease resulting in a loss of mobility or feeling. SCI is characterized by a primary mechanical injury followed by a secondary injury in which several molecular events are altered in the spinal cord often resulting in loss of neuronal function. Hypothesis: Spinal cord injury (SCI) induces a cascade of molecular events including the activation of genes associated with transcription factors, inflammation, oxidative stress, ionic imbalance, apoptosis and neuroregeneration which suggests the existance of endogenous reparative attempts. However, not all mechanisms following SCI are well known. Specific Aim: The goal of this project is to analyze the molecular events following spinal cord injury 1 cm above, below, and at the site of injury (T9), aiming at finding potential new targets to improve recovery and therapy.
Project description:Summary: Spinal cord injury (SCI) is a damage to the spinal cord induced by trauma or disease resulting in a loss of mobility or feeling. SCI is characterized by a primary mechanical injury followed by a secondary injury in which several molecular events are altered in the spinal cord often resulting in loss of neuronal function. Analysis of the areas directly (spinal cord) and indirectly (raphe and sensorimotor cortex) affected by injury will help understanding mechanisms of SCI. Hypothesis: Areas of the brain primarily affected by spinal cord injury are the Raphe and the Sensorimotor cortex thus gene expression profiling these two areas might contribute understanding the mechanisms of spinal cord injury. Specific Aim: The project aims at finding significantly altered genes in the Raphe and Sensorimotor cortex following an induced moderate spinal cord injury in T9. Keywords: other
Project description:The aneurysm clip impact-compression model of spinal cord injury (SCI) in animals mimics the primary mechanism of SCI in human, i.e. acute impact and persisting compression; and its histo-pathological and behavioural outcomes are extensively similar to the human SCI. In order to understand the distinct molecular events underlying this injury model, an analysis of global gene expression of the acute, subacute and chronic stages of a moderate to severe injury to the rat spinal cord was conducted using a microarray gene chip approach. Rat thoracic spinal cord (T7) was injured using aneurysm clip impact-compression injury model and the epicenter area of injured spinal cord was isolated for RNA extraction and processing and hybridization on Affymetrix GeneChip arrays.
Project description:Summary: Spinal cord injury (SCI) is a damage to the spinal cord induced by trauma or desease resulting in a loss of mobility or feeling. SCI is characterized by a primary mechanical injury followed by a secondary injury in which several molecular events are altered in the spinal cord often resulting in loss of neuronal function. Hypothesis: Spinal cord injury (SCI) induces a cascade of molecular events including the activation of genes associated with transcription factors, inflammation, oxidative stress, ionic imbalance, apoptosis and neuroregeneration which suggests the existance of endogenous reparative attempts. However, not all mechanisms following SCI are well known. Specific Aim: The goal of this project is to analyze the molecular events following spinal cord injury 1 cm above, below, and at the site of injury (T9), aiming at finding potential new targets to improve recovery and therapy. Keywords: other
Project description:We conducted snRNAseq of mouse astrocytes after traumatic spinal cord injury (SCI). These data reveal transcriptomic similarities and differences among astrocytes in healthy spinal cord and after spinal cord injury.
Project description:Traumatic spinal cord injury (SCI) often leads to loss of locomotor function. Neuroplasticity of spinal circuitry underlies some functional recovery and therefore represents a therapeutic target to improve locomotor function following SCI. However, the cellular and molecular mechanisms mediating neuroplasticity below the lesion level are not fully understood. The present study performed a gene expression profiling in the rat lumbar spinal cord at 1 and 3 weeks after contusive SCI at T9 compared to control rat that received sham injury (laminectomy). The below-level gene expression profiles were compared with those of animals that were subjected to treadmill locomotor training. Rat lumbar spinal cords were taken for the microarray analysis at 1 and 3 weeks after contusive spinal cord injury at the T9 level. Another group of rats received treadmill locomotor training for 3 weeks, and theirs spinal cords were harvested for the microarray. The changes in gene expression after spinal cord injury were analyzed at the two time points. The influence of treadmill locomotor training was evaluated by comparing gene expression profiles between animals with or without treadmill training.
Project description:Spinal cord injury (SCI) is a devastating clinical condition resulting in significant disabilities for affected individuals. Apart from local injury within the spinal cord, SCI patients develop a myriad of complications characterized by multi-organ dysfunction. Some of the dysfunctions are directly related to the disrupted integrity of sensory afferents from DRGs, which signal to both the spinal cord and peripheral organs. Some classes of DRG neurons undergo axonal sprouting both peripherally and centrally after spinal cord injury. Such physiological and anatomical re-organization of afferent axons after SCI contributes to both adaptive and maladaptive plasticity, which may be modulated by activity/exercise. In this study, we collected comprehensive gene expression data in whole dorsal root ganglia (DRGs) throughout the levels below the injury comparing the effects of SCI with and without activity/exercise.
Project description:Spinal cord injury (SCI) is a devastating neurological condition for which there are currently no effective treatment options to restore function. A major obstacle to the development of new therapies is our fragmentary understanding of the coordinated pathophysiological processeses triggered by damage to the human spinal cord. An additional challenge to translation of preclinical therapies is the reliance of clinical trials on standardized neurological assessments to enrol and stratify patients, rather than objective injury biomarkers. Here, we describe a systems biology approach to integrate decades of small-scale experiments with unbiased, genome-wide gene expression from the human spinal cord, revealing a gene regulatory network signature of the pathophysiological response to SCI. Our integrative analyses converge on an evolutionarily conserved gene subnetwork enriched for genes associated with the response to SCI by small-scale experiments, and whose expression is upregulated in a severity-dependent manner following injury and downregulated in functional recovery. We validate the severity-dependent upregulation of this subnetwork in prospective transcriptomic and proteomic studies. Our analysis provides a systems-level view of the coordinated molecular processes activated in response to SCI. Further, our results nominate quantitative biomarkers of injury severity and functional recovery, with the potential to facilitate development and translation of novel therapies.