title: Immunohistochemical analysis of activin A expression in spinal cords of rats with clip compression injuries.
abstract: Activin A, a member of the TGF-β superfamily, plays roles in neuroprotection and immunomodulation. In the present study, activin A expression was investigated on days 1, 4 and 7 post-injury in female adult Sprague-Dawley rats with spinal cord injuries (SCIs). The spinal cord was compressed with a vascular clip for 1 min following laminectomy at T9/T10. Western blot analysis showed that activin A levels peaked in SCI core lesions 4 days post-injury (p<0.01) and fell thereafter until day 7. Immunohistochemically, activin A was constitutively expressed in vascular endothelial cells, astrocytes and neurons of sham-operated controls, and in macrophages and reactive astrocytes of lesional cores and peripheries. As activin A plays an immunomodulatory role in the early stages of SCI and facilitates behavioral improvement, we postulate that transient upregulation of activin A in SCI tissue may contribute to modulation of inflammation development during SCI, thus leading to neuroprotection.
authors: Department of Veterinary Anatomy, College of Veterinary Medicine, Jeju National University, Jeju 690-756, Republic of Korea.
authors: Jinwoo
authors: J
authors: Jeong
authors: Department of Anatomy, School of Medicine, Jeju National University, Jeju 690-756, Republic of Korea.
authors: Meejung
authors: M
authors: Ahn
authors: Department of Neurosurgery, School of Medicine, Jeju National University, Jeju 690-756, Republic of Korea.
authors: Ki-Bum
authors: KB
authors: Sim
authors: Department of Veterinary Anatomy, College of Veterinary Medicine and Animal Medical Institute, Chonnam National University, Gwangju 500-757, Republic of Korea. Electronic address: moonc@chonnam.ac.kr.
authors: Changjong
authors: C
authors: Moon
authors: Department of Veterinary Anatomy, College of Veterinary Medicine, Jeju National University, Jeju 690-756, Republic of Korea. Electronic address: shint@jejunu.ac.kr.
authors: Taekyun
authors: T
authors: Shin
mesh_terms: D028341:Activins / Q000235:genetics*; D000818:Animals; D015153:Blotting, Western; D005260:Female; D005786:Gene Expression Regulation; D007150:Immunohistochemistry; D051381:Rats; D017207:Rats, Sprague-Dawley; D013116:Spinal Cord / Q000378:metabolism*; D013119:Spinal Cord Injuries / Q000503:physiopathology*
chemical_list: C422405:activin A; D028341:Activins
keywords: Activin A; Astrocyte; Macrophage; Spinal cord injury