Changes in spinal cord injury-induced gene expression in rat are strain-dependent.
BACKGROUND
The functional recovery of animals subject to experimental spinal cord injury (SCI) is dependent on the injury model as well as the species and strain of animal used. Previous studies have shown differences in rates and degree of recovery between rats of different strains.


OBJECTIVE
We sought to explore the hypothesis that differences in gene expression are associated with differences in functional recovery.


METHODS
Laboratory study involving cohorts of three different strains of rat.


METHODS
We used the Impactor device to produce identical spinal cord contusion injuries in groups of Long Evans, Sprague-Dawley, and Lewis rats (10 each). The functional recovery of animals was assessed using the Basso, Beattie, and Bresnahan rating scale. Six weeks after injury, rats were killed and the spinal cords were harvested for deoxyribonucleic acid microarray analysis. Changes in gene expression compared with intraspecies controls (3 each) were assessed at the region of injury and at a rostral segment of the spinal cord. Selected genes were also studied with real-time polymerase chain reaction.


RESULTS
We found that different strains tended to exhibit different patterns of functional recovery. There were differences between the strains in terms of gene expression.


CONCLUSIONS
These results emphasize the importance of testing novel therapies for SCI in a variety of animal species before introduction into human trials. Further research into the influence of several gene products on functional recovery is needed.
Schmitt
Caroline
C
Neurological Surgery, University of Wisconsin Medical School, K4/834 CSC, 600 Highland Avenue, Madison, 53792-0001, USA.
Miranpuri
Gurwattan S
GS
Dhodda
Vinay K
VK
Isaacson
Jason
J
Vemuganti
Raghu
R
Resnick
Daniel K
DK
D000818:Animals; D004195:Disease Models, Animal; D015870:Gene Expression; D020869:Gene Expression Profiling; D008124:Locomotion / Q000235:genetics*; D008297:Male; D020411:Oligonucleotide Array Sequence Analysis; D051381:Rats; D011919:Rats, Inbred Strains / Q000235:genetics*; D020127:Recovery of Function / Q000235:genetics*; D020133:Reverse Transcriptase Polymerase Chain Reaction; D013045:Species Specificity; D013116:Spinal Cord / Q000473:pathology* / Q000503:physiopathology; D013119:Spinal Cord Injuries / Q000235:genetics* / Q000503:physiopathology