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Expression changes and bioinformatic analysis of Wallerian degeneration after sciatic nerve injury in rat

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Abstract

Wallerian degeneration (WD) remains an important research topic. Many genes are differentially expressed during the process of WD, but the precise mechanisms responsible for these differentiations are not completely understood. In this study, we used microarrays to analyze the expression changes of the distal nerve stump at 0, 1, 4, 7, 14, 21 and 28 days after sciatic nerve injury in rats. The data revealed 6 076 differentially-expressed genes, with 23 types of expression, specifically enriched in genes associated with nerve development and axonogenesis, cytokine biosynthesis, cell differentiation, cytokine/chemokine production, neuron differentiation, cytokinesis, phosphorylation and axon regeneration. Kyoto Encyclopedia of Genes and Genomes pathway analysis gave findings related mainly to the MAPK signaling pathway, the Jak-STAT signaling pathway, the cell cycle, cytokine-cytokine receptor interaction, the p53 signaling pathway and the Wnt signaling pathway. Some key factors were NGF, MAG, CNTF, CTNNA2, p53, JAK2, PLCB1, STAT3, BDNF, PRKC, collagen II, FGF, THBS4, TNC and c-Src, which were further validated by real-time quantitative PCR, Western blot, and immunohistochemistry. Our findings contribute to a better understanding of the functional analysis of differentially-expressed genes in WD and may shed light on the molecular mechanisms of nerve degeneration and regeneration.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Jiangsu Key Laboratory of Neuroregeneration, Nantong University, Nantong, 226019, China

    Dengbing Yao, Meiyuan Li, Dingding Shen, Fei Ding & Xiaosong Gu

  2. School of Life Sciences, Nantong University, Nantong, 226019, China

    Dengbing Yao

  3. Key Laboratory of the People’s Liberation Army, Institute of Orthopaedics, Chinese PLA General Hospital, Beijing, 100853, China

    Shibi Lu & Qing Zhao

Authors
  1. Dengbing Yao
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  2. Meiyuan Li
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  4. Fei Ding
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  5. Shibi Lu
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  6. Qing Zhao
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  7. Xiaosong Gu
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Correspondence to Qing Zhao or Xiaosong Gu.

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These authors contributed equally to this work.

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Yao, D., Li, M., Shen, D. et al. Expression changes and bioinformatic analysis of Wallerian degeneration after sciatic nerve injury in rat. Neurosci. Bull. 29, 321–332 (2013). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12264-013-1340-0

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s12264-013-1340-0

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