title: A Model of Glial Scarring Analogous to the Environment of a Traumatically Injured Spinal Cord Using Kainate.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  To develop anin vitromodel analogous to the environment of traumatic spinal cord injury (SCI), the authors evaluated change of astrogliosis following treatments with kainate and/or scratch, and degree of neurite outgrowth after treatment with a kainate inhibitor.
  
  
  METHODS
  Astrocytes were obtained from the rat spinal cord. Then, 99% of the cells were confirmed to be GFAP-positive astrocytes. For chemical injury, the cells were treated with kainate at different concentrations (10, 50 or 100 µM). For mechanical injury, two kinds of uniform scratches were made using a plastic pipette tip by removing strips of cells. For combined injury (S/K), scratch and kainate were provided. Cord neurons from rat embryos were plated onto culture plates immediately after the three kinds of injuries and some cultures were treated with a kainate inhibitor.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Astro-gliosis (glial fibrillary acidic protein [GFAP], vimentin, chondroitin sulfate proteoglycan [CSPG], rho-associated protein kinase [ROCK], and ephrin type-A receptor 4 [EphA4]) was most prominent after treatment with 50 µM kainate and extensive scratch injury in terms of single arm (p<0.001) and in the S/K-induced injury model in view of single or combination (p<0.001). Neurite outgrowth in the seeded spinal cord (β-III tubulin) was the least in the S/K-induced injury model (p<0.001) and this inhibition was reversed by the kainate inhibitor (p<0.001).
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  The currentin vitromodel combining scratch and kainate induced glial scarring and inhibitory molecules and restricted neurite outgrowth very strongly than either the mechanically or chemically-induced injury model; hence, it may be a useful tool for research on SCI.
authors.affiliation: Department of Rehabilitation Medicine, Asan Medical Center, University of Ulsan College of Medicine, Seoul, Korea.
authors.forename: Jong Yoon
authors.identifier: 0000-0002-5391-6982
authors.initials: JY
authors.lastname: Yoo
authors.affiliation: Department of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation, Ulsan University Hospital, University of Ulsan College of Medicine, Ulsan, Korea.
authors.forename: Chang Ho
authors.identifier: 0000-0003-0444-3602
authors.initials: CH
authors.lastname: Hwang
authors.affiliation: Department of Anatomy, Asan Medical Center, University of Ulsan College of Medicine, Seoul, Korea.
authors.forename: Hea Nam
authors.identifier: 0000-0003-2421-9050
authors.initials: HN
authors.lastname: Hong
keywords: In vitro techniques; Kainic acid; Neuroglia; Spinal cord injuries