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A Neurosphere Assay to Evaluate Endogenous Neural Stem Cell Activation in a Mouse Model of Minimal Spinal Cord Injury
Published on: September 13, 2018
Responses of microRNAs 124a and 223 following spinal cord injury in mice
K Nakanishi1, T Nakasa, N Tanaka
1Department of Orthopaedic Surgery, Programs for Applied Biomedicine, Division of Clinical Medical Science, Graduate School of Biomedical, Sciences, Hiroshima University, Minami-ku, Hiroshima, Japan.
Study Design:
We investigated microRNA (miRNA) expression after spinal cord injury (SCI) in mice.
Objectives:
The recent discovery of miRNAs suggests a novel regulatory control over gene expression during plant and animal development. MiRNAs are short noncoding RNAs that suppress the translation of target genes by binding to their mRNAs, and play a central role in gene regulation in health and disease. The purpose of this study was to examine miRNA expression after SCI.
Setting:
Department of Orthopaedic Surgery, Graduate School of Biomedical Sciences, Hiroshima University.
Methods:
We examined the expression of miRNA (miR)-223 and miR-124a in a mouse model at 6 h, 12 h, 1 day, 3 days and 7 days after SCI using quantitative PCR. The miRNA expression was confirmed by in situ hybridization.
Results:
Quantitative PCR revealed two peaks of miR-223 expression at 6 and 12 h and 3 days after SCI. MiR-124a expression decreased significantly from 1 day to 7 days after SCI. In situ hybridization demonstrated the presence of miR-223 around the injured site. However, miR-124a, which was present in the normal spinal cord, was not observed at the injured site.
Conclusion:
Our results indicate a time-dependent expression pattern of miR-223 and miR-124a in a mouse model of SCI. In this study, the time course of miRNA-223 expression may be related to inflammatory responses after SCI, and the time course of decreased miR-124a expression may reflect cell death.
