title: Identification of the Avulsion-Injured Spinal Motoneurons.
abstract: In laboratory studies, counting the spinal motoneurons that survived axonal injury is a major method to estimate the severity and regenerative capacity of the injured motoneurons after the axonal injury and rehabilitation surgery. However, the typical motoneuron marker, the choline acetyltransferase (ChAT), could not be detected in the injured motoneurons within the first 3-4 weeks postinjury. It is necessary to explore the useful and reliable specific phenotypic markers to assess the fate of injured motoneurons in axonal injury. Here, we used the fluorogold to retrograde trace the injured motoneurons in the spinal cord and studied the expression patterns of the alpha-motoneuron marker, the neuronal nuclei DNA-binding protein (NeuN) and the peripheral nerve injury marker, the activating transcriptional factor (ATF-3), and the oxidative stress marker, the neuronal nitric oxide synthase (nNOS) within the first 4 weeks of the root avulsion of the right brachial plexus (BPRA) in the adult male Sprague-Dawley rats. Our results showed that ATF-3 was rapidly induced and sustained to express only in the nuclei of the fluorogold-labeled injured motoneurons but none in the unaffected motoneurons from the 24 h of the injury; meanwhile, the NeuN almost disappeared in the avulsion-affected motoneurons within the first 4 weeks. The nNOS was not detected in the motoneurons until the second week of the injury. On the basis of the present data, we suggest that ATF-3 labels avulsion-injured motoneurons while NeuN and nNOS are poor markers within the first 4 weeks of BPRA.
authors.affiliation: Zhongshan School of Medicine, Sun Yat-sen University, No. 74 Zhongshan Road 2, Guangzhou, 510080, People's Republic of China.
authors.forename: Min
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Tan
authors.forename: Ming-zhou
authors.initials: MZ
authors.lastname: Yuan
authors.forename: Tian-yu
authors.initials: TY
authors.lastname: Sun
authors.forename: Ying-yu
authors.initials: YY
authors.lastname: Xie
authors.forename: Lin-Lin
authors.initials: LL
authors.lastname: Liu
authors.forename: Ying
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Tang
authors.forename: Ze-min
authors.initials: ZM
authors.lastname: Ling
authors.forename: Ying-qin
authors.initials: YQ
authors.lastname: Li
authors.forename: Guang-yin
authors.initials: GY
authors.lastname: Yu
authors.forename: Li Hua
authors.initials: LH
authors.lastname: Zhou
mesh_terms: D051700:Activating Transcription Factor 3 / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism; D000818:Animals; D034961:Antigens, Nuclear / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism; D001917:Brachial Plexus / Q000378:metabolism / Q000473:pathology*; D008297:Male; D009046:Motor Neurons / Q000378:metabolism* / Q000473:pathology; D009419:Nerve Tissue Proteins / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism; D052248:Nitric Oxide Synthase Type I / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism; D059348:Peripheral Nerve Injuries / Q000473:pathology*; D017207:Rats, Sprague-Dawley
chemical_list: D051700:Activating Transcription Factor 3; D034961:Antigens, Nuclear; C497108:Atf3 protein, rat; D009419:Nerve Tissue Proteins; C546339:Rbfox3 protein, rat; D052248:Nitric Oxide Synthase Type I