AUTHOR=Yu Bin , Yao Chun , Wang Yongjun , Mao Susu , Wang Yaxian , Wu Ronghua , Feng Wei , Chen Yanping , Yang Jian , Xue Chengbin , Liu Dong , Ding Fei , Gu Xiaosong 

TITLE=The Landscape of Gene Expression and Molecular Regulation Following Spinal Cord Hemisection in Rats

JOURNAL=Frontiers in Molecular Neuroscience

VOLUME=Volume 12 - 2019

YEAR=2019

URL=https://www.frontiersin.org/journals/molecular-neuroscience/articles/10.3389/fnmol.2019.00287

DOI=10.3389/fnmol.2019.00287

ISSN=1662-5099

ABSTRACT=Spinal cord injury is a challenging clinical problem worldwide. The cellular state and molecular expression in spinal cord tissue after injury are extremely complex and closely related to functional recovery. However, the spatial and temporal changes of gene expression and regulation in various cell types after spinal cord injury are still unclear. Here, we collected the rostral and caudal regions to the lesion at 11 time points over a period of 28 days after rat hemisection spinal cord injury. Combining whole-transcriptome sequencing and bioinformatic analysis, we identified differentially expressed genes between spinal cord tissue from injured and sham-operated animals. Significantly altered biological processes were enriched from differentially expressed genes in astrocytes, microglia, oligodendrocytes, immune cells and vascular systems after spinal cord injury. We then identified dynamic trends in these processes using the average expression profiles of differentially expressed genes. Gene expression and regulatory networks for selected biological processes were also constructed to illustrate the complicate difference between rostral and caudal tissues. Finally, we validated the expressions of some key genes from these networks, including -synuclein, heme oxygenase 1, bone morphogenetic protein 2, activating transcription factor 3, and leukemia inhibitory factor. Collectively, we provided a comprehensive network of gene expression and regulation to shed light on the molecular characteristics of critical biological processes that occur after spinal cord injury, which will broaden the understanding of spinal cord injury and facilitate clinical therapeutics for spinal cord injury.