Abstract
We examined the morphology of spinal accessory motoneurons, immunoreactivity to brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF) and neurotrophin (NT)-3, and reactive astrocytosis in 70 tiptoe-walking Yoshimura (twy/twy) mice that develop calcification at C1–C2 vertebral level compressing the spinal cord. At the level of compression, the area of neuronal soma, total length of dendrites, and numbers of wheat germ agglutinin-horseradish peroxidase (WGA-HRP)-labeled accessory motoneurons decreased significantly. Rostral to the compressive lesion, opposite findings were evidenced; enhanced BDNF and NT-3 immunoreactivities were evident in the anterior horn cells, increasing in response to a more severe degree of compression, with larger population of BDNF-positive astrocyte-like cells.
Our results suggest increased functional activity of anterior horn cells at levels rostral to the site of compression. We speculate that the presence of BDNF and NT-3 in neurons and astrocyte-like cells is proportionate to the severity of chronic mechanical compression and may contribute to the heterotropic neuronal reserve and survival. The numbers of TUNEL-positive neurons in the gray matter and oligodendrocytes in the white matter of the spinal cord of the twy/twy mouse increased with progressive mechanical compression.
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Acknowledgment
This work was supported in part by Grants-in-Aid for General Scientific Research of the Ministry of Education, Science and Culture of Japan (grants numbers 09671480, C15591571, B16390435, B18390413, and B19791023). This work was also supported in part by grants from the Investigation Committee on Ossification of the Spinal Ligaments, Public Health Bureau of the Japanese Ministry of Health and Welfare.
Conflict of Interest All authors declare that they have no conflict of interest.
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Uchida, K., Nakajima, H., Furukawa, S., Inukai, T., Maezawa, Y., Baba, H. (2014). Morphological Changes in Anterior Horn Cells, Immunoreactivity to Neurotrophic Factors, and Neuronal Cell Death of Spinal Cord Lesions in the Spinal Hyperostotic Mouse (twy/twy) with Chronic Mechanical Cord Compression. In: Uchida, K., Nakamura, M., Ozawa, H., Katoh, S., Toyama, Y. (eds) Neuroprotection and Regeneration of the Spinal Cord. Springer, Tokyo. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-4-431-54502-6_9
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