title: Mechanical compression insults induce nanoscale changes of membrane-skeleton arrangement which could cause apoptosis and necrosis in dorsal root ganglion neurons.
abstract: In a primary spinal cord injury, the amount of mechanical compression insult that the neurons experience is one of the most critical factors in determining the extent of the injury. The ultrastructural changes that neurons undergo when subjected to mechanical compression are largely unknown. In the present study, using a compression-driven instrument that can simulate mechanical compression insult, we applied mechanical compression stimulation at 0.3, 0.5, and 0.7 MPa to dorsal root ganglion (DRG) neurons for 10 min. Combined with atomic force microscopy, we investigated nanoscale changes in the membrane-skeleton, cytoskeleton alterations, and apoptosis induced by mechanical compression injury. The results indicated that mechanical compression injury leads to rearrangement of the membrane-skeleton compared with the control group. In addition, mechanical compression stimulation induced apoptosis and necrosis and also changed the distribution of the cytoskeleton in DRG neurons. Thus, the membrane-skeleton may play an important role in the response to mechanical insults in DRG neurons. Moreover, sudden insults caused by high mechanical compression, which is most likely conducted by the membrane-skeleton, may induce necrosis, apoptosis, and cytoskeletal alterations.
authors.affiliation: a Department of Orthopedics , Xijing Hospital, The Fourth Military Medical University , Xi'an , The People's Republic of China.
authors.forename: Xin
authors.initials: X
authors.lastname: Quan
authors.forename: Kai
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Guo
authors.forename: Yuqing
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Wang
authors.forename: Liangliang
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Huang
authors.forename: Beiyu
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Chen
authors.forename: Zhengxu
authors.initials: Z
authors.lastname: Ye
authors.forename: Zhuojing
authors.initials: Z
authors.lastname: Luo
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D017209:Apoptosis; D002462:Cell Membrane / Q000378:metabolism*; D002470:Cell Survival; D003599:Cytoskeleton / Q000378:metabolism*; D005727:Ganglia, Spinal / Q000166:cytology*; D036103:Nanotechnology; D009336:Necrosis / Q000209:etiology / Q000473:pathology; D009474:Neurons / Q000166:cytology*; D051381:Rats; D017207:Rats, Sprague-Dawley; D013314:Stress, Mechanical
keywords: apoptosis; atomic force microscopy; mechanical compression; membrane-skeleton; spinal cord injury