Effects of increasing cortical neuronal activity in mice on axon remyelination and motor function recovery after spinal cord injury by DREADDs

• Published in: Jie fang jun yi xue za zhi Vol. 46; no. 2; p. 107
• Main Authors: LUO, Mei-Ling, Bo-Tao, TAN, PAN, Lu, Ya-Min, WU, LIU, Yuan, Le-Hua, YU
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: Chinese
• Published: Beijing People's Military Medical Press 01.01.2021
• Subjects: Contusions; Microscopy; Spinal cord injuries
• ISSN: 0577-7402
• DOI: 10.11855/j.issn.0577-7402.2021.02.01

Objective　To observe the effect of increasing brain cortical neuronal activity in mice on axon remyelination and motor function recovery after mild spinal cord contusion injury by chemical genetics technology (DREADDs). Methods　 33 C57/BL male adult mice accepted stereotactic injection of adeno-associated virus with activated receptor [AAV-hM3D(Gq)-mCitrine] into the right cerebral cortex. Then all of the mice were randomly divided into three groups: sham group (n=11), SCI group (n=11) and activated group (n=11). SCI spinal cord injury model was established in SCI group and activation group. Two weeks later, activation group was intraperitoneally injected with 1 mg/(kg·d) clozapine N-oxide (CNO) to activate the electrical activity of cortical neurons. Sham group and SCI group were intraperitoneally injected with the same amount of normal saline once a day for 4 weeks. Animals were perfused at last, using immunofluorescence to observe the results of infection of virus, the expression of cellular Fos (cFos) wit