Temporospatial expression of fibulin-1 after acute spinal cord injury in rats

Abstract

Objective: Fibulin-1 is a matricellular protein that plays important roles in motility inhibition in a variety of cells and blocks the proliferation of cultured neural stem cells. The biological function of fibulin-1 in the spinal cord has not been fully elucidated. Methods: To clarify the expressions and possible functions of fibulin-1 in spinal cord injury (SCI), we performed an acute spinal cord contusion injury model in adult rats. Our work studied the temporospatial expression patterns of fibulin-1. Results: Western blot analysis revealed that fibulin-1 levels significantly increased 5 days after spinal cord contusion. Immunohistochemistry confirmed an increased number of fibulin-1 immunopositive cells about 2 mm from the lesion site. Moreover, double immunofluorescence labeling suggested that these changes were especially prominent in neurons and microglia. Conclusion: These findings suggest that fibulin-1 may be involved in neuronal apoptosis and microglial activation after SCI.

Identification of regenerative processes in neonatal spinal cord injury in the opossum (Monodelphis domestica): A transcriptomic study

“…Few immune genes were expressed uniquely in regenerating cords and fewer still of these have been described in spinal cord injury. FBLN1 , an extracellular matrix gene important in cell adhesion and migration, and FCGR2B , a structural component of the receptor for the Fc region of immunoglobulin gamma, have both been shown to be upregulated in adult rodent spinal injury (K. Chen et al, 2013; Xu et al, 2015), after which no regeneration occurs. STAT1 is a transcription factor with putatively negative roles in neural survival after injury (Takagi, Harada, Chiarugi, & Moskowitz, 2002) yet it is upregulated 1 day after injury in regenerating cords, and has been previously identified as being downregulated 1 day after injury in nonregenerating opossum cords (Saunders et al, 2014).…”