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 one of the most disabling health problems facing adults today. Locomotor training has been shown to induce substantial recovery in muscle size and muscle function in both transected and contusion injury animal models of SCI. The overall objective of this study is to implement genome wide expression profiling of skeletal muscle to define the molecular pathways associated with muscle remodeling after SCI and during locomotor training (TM). We profiled rat soleus of total 36 samples including controls; 3, 8 and 14 days after SCI; 8 and 14 days after SCI with locomotor treadmill training (TM).
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:Spinal cord injury (SCI) is one of the most disabling health problems facing adults today. Locomotor training has been shown to induce substantial recovery in muscle size and muscle function in both transected and contusion injury animal models of SCI. The overall objective of this study is to implement genome wide expression profiling of skeletal muscle to define the molecular pathways associated with muscle remodeling after SCI and during locomotor training (TM).
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. The below-level gene expression profiles were compared with those of animals that were subjected to treadmill locomotor training.
