Journal: Journal of neurochemistry

Article Title: Involvement of ERK2 in traumatic spinal cord injury

doi: 10.1111/j.1471-4159.2010.06579.x

Figure Lengend Snippet: Silencing effects of pERK2 and caspase 3 with siRNA after excitotoxic SCI. (A, B, and C): Intrathecal pre-treatment for 72 h with ERK2 siRNA (B and C light bar, 2.5 μg) complexed with lipofectamine 2000 (5 μg) resulted in significant decrease in pERK2 protein expression 4 h after excitotoxic SCI, compared to control siRNA pretreatment (A and C dark bar, 2.5 μg). (D, E, and F): Intrathecal pre-treatment for 72 h with ERK2 siRNA (E and F light bar, 2.5 μg) complexed with lipofectamine 2000 (5 μg) resulted in significant decrease in caspase 3 activity (cleaved caspase 3) 4 h after excitotoxic SCI, compared to control siRNA pretreatment (D and F dark bar, 2.5 μg). The fluorescent labeled pERK2-positive or cleaved caspase 3-positive cells in the QUIS injection epicenter were counted using fliorescent microscopy image system (n=3 sections sparated 60 μm apart per animal, n=3 animals per group). Data were presented as mean ± S.E.M. and analyzed by t-test **p<0.01 and ***p<0.001, t test. Scale bar: 30 μm.

Article Snippet: The fluorescent ERK2 or ED-1signal in the lentiviral vector injection epicenter were imaged/analyzed and the pERK2-positive or cleaved caspase 3-positive cells in the QUIS lesion epicenter were counted using an Olympus spinning disk fluorescent microscopy image system and Adobe Photoshop CS2 software (n=3 sections separated 60 μm apart per animal, n= 3-4 animals per group).

Techniques: Expressing, Activity Assay, Labeling, Injection, Microscopy