title: Intrathecal application of short interfering RNA knocks down c-jun expression and augments spinal motoneuron death after root avulsion in adult rats.
abstract: The immediate-early gene, c-jun, is expressed in spinal motoneurons after spinal root avulsion. The expression of c-jun was suggested to be necessary for motoneuron survival and regeneration after avulsion. In the present study, a small interfering RNA (siRNA) was delivered intrathecally to the injured spinal segments immediately after root avulsion in rats to knock down expression of the c-jun gene in injured spinal motoneurons so as to explore the role of c-jun in the motoneurons in vivo. Our results showed that the siRNA not only inhibited the expression of both c-jun mRNA and protein but also augmented the death of injured motoneurons at day 14 post-injury. These findings indicated that induction of c-jun gene expression plays a pivotal role in the survival of injured motoneurons. Meanwhile, these results suggest that siRNAs applied intrathecally can effectively mediate the expression of the c-jun gene in injured motoneurons.
authors.affiliation: Department of Anatomy, Zhong Shan School of Medicine, Sun Yat-Sen University, Guangzhou, China.
authors.forename: X
authors.initials: X
authors.lastname: Cheng
authors.forename: R
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Fu
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Gao
authors.forename: S
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Liu
authors.forename: Y-Q
authors.initials: YQ
authors.lastname: Li
authors.forename: F-H
authors.initials: FH
authors.lastname: Song
authors.forename: I C
authors.initials: IC
authors.lastname: Bruce
authors.forename: L-H
authors.initials: LH
authors.lastname: Zhou
authors.forename: W
authors.initials: W
authors.lastname: Wu
mesh_terms: D000375:Aging; D000818:Animals; D015153:Blotting, Western; D016923:Cell Death / Q000502:physiology; D005434:Flow Cytometry; D005455:Fluorescent Antibody Technique; D055785:Gene Knockdown Techniques; D016758:Genes, jun / Q000502:physiology*; D007150:Immunohistochemistry; D007278:Injections, Spinal; D008297:Male; D009046:Motor Neurons / Q000378:metabolism* / Q000473:pathology; D016716:PC12 Cells; D034741:RNA, Small Interfering / Q000008:administration & dosage; D011843:Radiculopathy / Q000378:metabolism* / Q000473:pathology; D051381:Rats; D017207:Rats, Sprague-Dawley; D020133:Reverse Transcriptase Polymerase Chain Reaction; D013116:Spinal Cord / Q000378:metabolism* / Q000473:pathology; D014162:Transfection
chemical_list: D034741:RNA, Small Interfering